The Royal Mint Court in the Tower Hamlets district of London was - as the name suggests - where Britain minted its coins from 1809 until 1967. Before that in the 14th century it was the site of a Cistercian Abbey. After the mint relocated, the site was redeveloped in 1987 by the Crown Estate Commissioners with a new office and residential block of 100 homes added to the complex alongside the two remaining Grade II listed mint buildings.
In 2017, the Royal Mint Court was again up for redevelopment and in 2018 it was purchased by the People’s Republic of China to be used for their new London Embassy. The change of ownership meant that the Chinese government became the new landlord for the 100 leasehold homes as well.
Boris Johnson, who was foreign secretary at the time, granted the property diplomatic status and China submitted an initial planning application.
When Johnson became prime minister in 2019, he hired Edward Lister as chief strategic adviser. Lister had previously been a non-executive director at the Foreign Office. But in 2021 an investigation by The Sunday Times revealed that while Lister had been working for the Foreign Office during negotiations with China he was also connected to other parties involved in the property deal. He resigned a few months later.
In 2022, Tower Hamlets council unanimously rejected the embassy planning application, citing the potential harm to the historic site and surrounding area. China did not appeal.
After the Labour Party won the UK general election in 2024, China resubmitted the same plans, and shortly afterwards, Chinese leader Xi Jinping raised the topic during his first phone call with Sir Keir Starmer. Weeks later, Angela Rayner, then the housing secretary and deputy prime minister, “called in” the planning application, taking control away from the local authority. Most of the planning documents submitted to Tower Hamlets council were heavily redacted for what China described as “security reasons” a move that led Angela Rayner to delay approval and demand clarification.
The Metropolitan Police also objected on the basis that the space outside the complex could not contain protesters and demonstrations might spill into the road. However, later in 2025 it dropped its opposition, after re-examining a three-year-old technical document commissioned and paid for by China.
Last December, The Sunday Times quoted a source from UK security services who expressed concern with the “disproportionate scale” of China’s new mega embassy and the security implications it brings with it. And while they indicated they could only advise the government on the risks, they concluded that the consequences could be massive - politically, for business and for dissidents living in the UK.
A subsequent article in the Telegraph on January 13th reignited fears that China could be constructing a spy centre underneath the embassy site when it revealed that the unredacted plans showed a concealed room running immediately alongside fiber optic cables critical to the City and Canary Wharf - London’s financial hubs. The plans also included a network of 208 secret rooms beneath the mega-embassy.
Meanwhile concerns continued to be echoed by opposition parties and Labour’s own back benchers, however none of this was enough to convince the Starmer administration to deny the planning request. On January 20th of 2026, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Steve Reed, granted approval for the redevelopment of Royal Mint Court into the proposed Chinese Mega Embassy.
On the weekend before the planning announcement, protesters gathered for the 10th time on the streets outside the embassy site. I went along to hear their concerns and spoke with local politicians, community leaders and human rights advocates. Tune in to hear their story and explore the wider implications for UK national security, democratic accountability and Britain's relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
Date of Recording: January 17th, 2026
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| China's Mega Embassy in London Power, Influence and National Security |
DIVE DEEPER
Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:
- Royal Mint Court Residents GO FUND ME - link
- UK Government Planning Decision (January 20th, 2026)
- Government warned of 'potentially catastrophic' legal challenge over Chinese embassy - Sky News (January 20th, 2026)
- Keir Starmer faces years of legal battles over China mega-embassy - Steven Swinford, The Times (January 19th, 2026)
- Uncovered: Secret room beneath Chinese embassy that poses threat to city - Gareth Corfield, The Telegraph (January 20th, 2026)
- MPs step up calls to block Chinese mega-embassy - Brian Wheeler, BBC News (January 13th, 2026)
- Who is Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon? - Kelly Ng, BBC News, Singapore (December 15th, 2025)
- China's battle for a giant 'spy base' in London - Emanuele Midolo and Gabriel Pogrund, The Sunday Times (December 21st, 2025)
- China spy case was dropped after UK government failed to provide evidence of Beijing threat - Jessica Elgot annd Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian via The Irish Times (October 8th, 2025)
- How China really spies on the UK - Gordon Corera, BBC News (October 30th, 2025)
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