China's London super-embassy

The People's Republic wants to build a massive new embassy in central London, and a lot of people aren't happy about it

Royal Mint Court, the proposed site of China's new UK embassy, in the Tower Hamlets borough of London
Beijing paid £255 million for Royal Mint Court, a 5.5-acre complex that housed the Royal Mint until 1967
(Image credit: Carl Court / Getty Images)

Local residents, Tower Hamlets Council, the Metropolitan Police, the security services, the Trump administration and five British governments have all expressed concerns about the Chinese proposal to build the largest diplomatic mission in Europe next to the Tower of London.

Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, has until 9 September to decide whether to let the project go ahead. The expectation is that she will approve it, but critics warn that the building could become a "nest of spies" in the heart of the capital.

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