UK asks China to clarify contested embassy plan

Protesters gather with placards at the site of the former Royal Mint in London on February 8, 2025, to demonstrate against a proposal to move China’s embassy to this site, a stones-throw from The Tower of London. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

LONDON — The British government on Wednesday asked China explain partially redacted plans it has submitted for its new London embassy project, which has fanned worries from residents and human rights advocates.

China has sought for several years to move its embassy from the chic Marylebone district to a sprawling historic site in the shadow of the Tower of London.

It would be the largest embassy complex in Britain, and the project comes as the Labour government is looking to reset long-fraught ties with Beijing.

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On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner sent a letter to the firm DP9 that represents the Chinese government, requesting details on some documents transmitted during a public inquiry.

Rayner sought in particular details on portions of the plans that had been “greyed-out” or “redacted for security reasons”.

The letter was published online by Luke de Pulford of the Interparliamentary Alliance on China, an international body, one of its copied recipients.

The UK government gave China until August 20 to respond.

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The proposed embassy site, which Beijing bought in 2018 for a reported $327 million, once housed the Royal Mint.

It was earlier home to a Cistercian abbey built in 1348 but is currently derelict.

In 2022, the local authority, Tower Hamlets Council, unanimously rejected China’s plans, which include designs by the renowned firm David Chipperfield Architects.

In July 2024, Beijing resubmitted the proposals almost entirely unchanged. /dl