On November 21, 2025, the United Kingdom edged closer to a pivotal decision that has stirred debate across political and security circles: the likely approval of China’s plan for a massive new embassy in central London. The proposed site, Royal Mint Court, sits just a stone’s throw from the City of London and is adjacent to fibre optic cables that carry vast quantities of sensitive data—a proximity that has raised more than a few eyebrows among security experts and politicians alike.
Despite these concerns, UK security agencies, including MI5 and MI6, have reportedly given the green light to the project, according to The Times and corroborated by several other outlets. The Home Office and Foreign Office are not expected to raise any formal objections, clearing the way for the controversial development. While the final decision rests with Housing Secretary Steve Reed—who must rule in what’s known as a quasi-judicial capacity—the advice from intelligence agencies appears to have paved the way for approval. The deadline for a ruling was recently pushed back to December 10, 2025, after months of delays and mounting public scrutiny.
The embassy, set to span an enormous 20,000 square metres, would be the largest Chinese diplomatic mission in Europe. This scale is not lost on observers; some in government argue that consolidating China’s diplomatic presence at a single, highly managed site could actually make oversight easier. Conversely, there’s a palpable fear that granting such a high-profile location—so close to the UK’s financial and data arteries—could open the door to state-sponsored espionage.
These fears are far from hypothetical. Earlier this week, MI5 issued an alert to Members of Parliament, peers, and parliamentary staff, warning them of sophisticated espionage attempts by individuals working on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The security service warned that so-called "headhunters" were using platforms like LinkedIn to target people with access to sensitive political information, often under the guise of legitimate recruitment. Security Minister Dan Jarvis addressed the Commons, announcing a new "espionage action plan" and a £170 million investment to renew encrypted technology for civil servants. Another £130 million will bolster counterterror policing and help businesses shield their intellectual property.
"We will do everything possible to keep this country safe and we are very clear eyed about China's role there," Tech Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News on Friday. She emphasized, "National security will always come first. That is absolutely non-negotiable. But where we can safely work with China—whether that's on the economy or areas like research—that’s what we'll do because we want to get the best outcome for the British public."
Yet not everyone is convinced. The Conservative shadow foreign secretary, Dame Priti Patel, has emerged as one of the most vocal critics. She accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of being "desperate and unprincipled," warning that approving the embassy would put the UK at risk. "It beggars belief that Starmer is jetting off to Beijing just months after the case against the alleged Chinese spies collapsed on his watch," she said. "Keir Starmer is so weak, and our economy so precarious, that Labour feels it must kowtow to China at every opportunity, regardless of the cost to our country."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey echoed these concerns, calling the potential approval "the wrong decision." He drew attention to the thousands of Hong Kongers who have come to the UK to escape oppression: "If you think of all the Hong Kongers who came to our country to escape the oppression from China, now the government is allowing it in." Lisa Smart, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, also called for the proposal to be rejected or, at a minimum, for the Chinese government to pay "for sensitive underground cables to be rerouted away" from the site.
China, for its part, has flatly denied all allegations of espionage. The Chinese Embassy in the UK described the warnings as "pure fabrication and malicious slander," urging the British government to "immediately stop this self-staged charade of false accusations and self-aggrandisement and stop going further down the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations." Officials have repeatedly argued that the new embassy complex will enhance "mutually beneficial cooperation" and that objections to the site are unjustified.
The diplomatic backdrop is equally charged. Since Labour’s victory in the 2024 general election, the government has made several overtures to thaw relations with Beijing. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, and the Foreign Office’s top civil servant, Sir Olly Robbins, have all traveled to China in recent months. Sir Keir Starmer himself is reportedly planning his first bilateral visit to China in January or February 2026—a trip that, according to sources cited by The Guardian, may be contingent on the embassy’s approval.
When asked about his China travel plans during a flight to the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, Starmer told reporters there was no confirmed visit yet, but reaffirmed the government’s stance: "Our approach is the same as we've always taken, which is cooperate where we can and challenge where we must, particularly on national security."
The embassy saga has also unfolded against the backdrop of a high-profile spying case that collapsed in September 2025. Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, were accused of spying for China but denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors dropped the case, citing an inability to obtain evidence from the government labeling China as a national security threat. Ministers, for their part, expressed frustration and blamed the outcome on the previous Conservative government and outdated national security laws.
Amid these ongoing tensions, the government has announced a series of protective security campaigns, including tailored briefings for devolved governments and new security guidance for all candidates standing in the upcoming May elections. The Defending Democracy Taskforce is coordinating these efforts, aiming to help those involved in politics "recognise, resist and report suspicious state threat activity."
The embassy proposal was originally rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022, but Beijing resubmitted its application just weeks after Labour’s election win. The plans were subsequently "called in," meaning ministers would make the final call. Some Conservative MPs have pressed the government to place China in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which would require greater transparency for foreign actors operating in the UK.
As the December 10 deadline approaches, the government faces a delicate balancing act: safeguarding national security while maintaining a functional diplomatic relationship with one of the world’s most powerful nations. With the intelligence agencies’ tacit approval, the path seems set for the embassy to go ahead—but not without fierce debate, political fallout, and continued vigilance on both sides of the negotiating table.
For now, London waits to see whether the city’s skyline—and its diplomatic landscape—will soon be changed by the arrival of Europe’s largest Chinese embassy.
