London: The UK government has approved the establishment of a large Chinese embassy in central London, a decision that has stirred controversy and objections from political leaders and intelligence services. The embassy, described as "huge," will cover 20,000 square meters and will be located near the historic Tower of London.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Steve Reed, signed off on the agreement. Reed stated that the decision is "now final unless it is successfully challenged in court." The government emphasized that it had collaborated with policing and other relevant partners to ensure all national security issues associated with the planning application were thoroughly considered and addressed.
Critics of the decision include Conservative shadow security minister Alicia Kearns, who was quoted by Sky News. Kearns remarked that the approval was "inevitable" after a promise by Starmer to assist Xi Jinping during a phone conversation in August 2024. She also raised concerns about potential costs and security issues, questioning whether China will finance the relocation of critical cabling and how the site will be monitored for transnational repression and hacking.
Director of MI5, Ken McCallum, expressed his concerns in a letter to the Home and Foreign Secretaries. He noted the challenges in eliminating "embassy generated risk" entirely, given the multitude of other national security threats currently faced. The embassy site was purchased by China in 2018 for GBP 225 million, with the approval process taking time to evaluate various security implications.