UK Delays Decision on China’s London ‘Super-Embassy’ Until October

Britain has extended by six weeks its decision on whether to allow China to build what would be its largest embassy in Europe on the Royal Mint Court site near the Tower of London. The Department for Housing and Communities now aims to rule by 21 October, pushing back a 9 September deadline. Officials said more time is needed after Beijing refused to provide full details of the project’s internal layout, leaving several areas of the submitted blueprints blacked out. DP9, the consultancy representing China, told the government that supplying additional drawings was “neither necessary nor appropriate”. The lack of disclosure has fuelled objections from local residents, lawmakers and activists who warn the complex could facilitate espionage. Luke de Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China said Beijing’s explanations remain unsatisfactory. China bought the 19th-century site in 2018, but the project stalled when the local borough rejected planning permission in 2022. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government took over the decision last year after President Xi Jinping personally raised the matter. If approved, the compound would replace the existing Portland Place mission and significantly expand China’s diplomatic footprint in the UK.