UK court rejects challenge against new Chinese embassy in London

An English court on Friday threw out a challenge against planning permission for a Chinese “mega” embassy in central London, but residents seeking to block the contentious project vowed to fight on.

A campaign group of local residents and businesses had taken their case to the High Court, backed by opposition politicians and Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, asking for the government decision to be reexamined.

They argued the government had not listened to their fears about the impact of the vast new embassy next to the Tower of London, including the heightened risk of a terror attack, of espionage and the harassment of dissidents.

But after a hearing this month, two judges on Friday dismissed the claims, saying the housing minister had acted lawfully by granting planning permission in January.

The judgement only considered whether the government had acted lawfully, not the merits of the planning decision.

The Royal Mint Court Residents Association on Friday said it would apply for permission to appeal, hoping its case would reach the UK Supreme Court. It said it had relaunched crowd-funding efforts to fund legal costs.

‘Kowtow to China’

“Beijing thinks this judgement is the final word. It isn’t. The appeal is already in the works,” Luke de Pulford, head of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said in a statement.

“If they expect us to roll over and allow our own capital to become a CCP power centre, they have completely misjudged the strength of opposition to this mega embassy.”

Former Conservative opposition leader Ian Duncan Smith, who has campaigned against the embassy, said Friday he would raise “China policy” with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham. He said Beijing had pressured Britain to agree to the construction.

“The price we pay when we kowtow to China is in human lives,” he said at a news conference organised by the claimants.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Chloe Cheung said the case was “not just about a building” but whether dissidents targeted by the Chinese authorities “can truly feel safe in Britain”.

Beijing bought the site of the historic former Royal Mint, next to the Tower of London, in 2018 for a reported $327 million.

It plans to relocate its embassy there, and Boris Johnson, then foreign minister, granted diplomatic consent.

The 20,000-square-metre (235,000-square-foot) site is set to become the largest embassy complex in the UK by area.

The plan has been delayed by fierce opposition from nearby residents, rights groups and critics of China’s ruling Communist Party.

In January, Keir Starmer’s government finally granted planning permission shortly before visiting Beijing, prompting criticism from opposition politicians, rights groups and US President Donald Trump.

‘Concealed chamber’

The design for the embassy by David Chipperfield Architects involves restoring and partially demolishing and extending existing the historic buildings on the bank of the Thames.

The UK published planning documents showing the embassy’s projected floor space would exceed 50,000 square metres.

This would make it London’s largest embassy, ahead of the new 12-storey US home around 5.1 kilometres (3.2 miles) to the southwest.

It would also make it the largest Chinese embassy in Western Europe, and likely the largest embassy of any country in the region, by floor space.

The Daily Telegraph said it had obtained unredacted plans that showed Beijing planned to construct a “concealed chamber” among 208 “secret rooms” underneath the embassy, which would be close to sensitive underground communications cables.

Friday’s judgement said that while plans submitted to the UK authorities were redacted and not all rooms were identified, there was “no possible ambiguity as to the nature of the intended use of the premises”.

Security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs in January that any risks were being “appropriately managed”. He quoted intelligence chiefs as saying they had helped to develop a “range of measures” to manage any risks.

Beijing would also consolidate its seven current London sites into one, “bringing clear security advantages,” he said.