Overview

• Rayner’s letter gives Beijing until August 20 to provide unredacted drawings or explain why key areas were blacked out
• The proposed complex at Royal Mint Court would cover 20,000 square metres, making it Europe’s largest embassy if approved
• The Home Office and Foreign Office have urged modifications to include a hard perimeter around the site, a change that would trigger additional consultation
• Security critics warn that redacted basement layouts could conceal surveillance facilities or ‘spy dungeons’ near central London’s financial district
• A final ministerial ruling on the embassy application is due by September 9 after a public inquiry produced a Planning Inspectorate recommendation