Sir Keir Starmer is expected to formally approve a new 20,000 square metre Chinese embassy in central London despite espionage concerns, reports say. The prime minister has reportedly been given the green light by MI5 and MI6, with The Times informed by sources that the Home Office and the Foreign Office will not raise any formal objections to the plan.
The deadline for the decision has been extended to 10 December, with both departments, which represent the security services, set to submit their responses to the government over the coming days. Sir Keir is planning to travel to China for his first bilateral visit in January or February next year, as the UK seeks to strengthen economic and diplomatic relations with Beijing. However, sources have told The Guardian that this visit is contingent on the embassy’s planning proposals being greenlit next month. A Whitehall source said the embassy’s approval was likely to be a “formality”.
The row over the embassy comes amid ongoing disquiet following the collapse of a Chinese spying case and warnings by MI5 of the threat posed by the communist state to UK national security, fuelling the government’s difficulties as it seeks to ease tensions with Beijing. But tech secretary Liz Kendall insisted the prime minister takes “all of those issues extremely seriously”. “We will do everything possible to keep this country safe and we are very clear eyed about China's role there”, she told Sky News on Friday morning.
Proposals for the embassy were rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022, with the Chinese opting not to appeal. But Beijing resubmitted the application a fortnight after Labour’s election victory last year, and the plans were then “called in” so ministers would make the final decision. On Tuesday, security minister Dan Jarvis said the government will not tolerate “covert and calculated” attempts by China to interfere with the UK’s sovereign affairs following an MI5 warning over spying threats.
MPs, peers and parliamentary staff were warned by the security service over suspected Chinese espionage via recruitment headhunters on Tuesday. Mr Jarvis told the House of Commons that MI5 has said China is attempting to “recruit and cultivate” individuals with access to sensitive information, often masked through cover companies and headhunters. The minister announced a package of measures to disrupt the threats, and that the government is launching an “espionage action plan”. China has denied the allegations and lodged “stern representations” with Downing Street over the warning, an embassy spokesperson said.
As part of measures to tackle the risk, the government said £170m will be used to renew encrypted technology used by civil servants to safeguard sensitive work. A further £130m will be invested to help counterterror police enforce the National Security Act and fund work to help businesses protect their intellectual property. The decision to allow the embassy will likely provoke a political backlash. In recent months, the Tories have pressed Labour to place China in the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs).
