Overview
- The Times reports the prime minister is expected to give the project the go‑ahead within days ahead of a planned Beijing visit, with Communities Secretary Steve Reed due to make the formal decision by January 20.
- The Daily Telegraph’s unredacted drawings reportedly show 208 basement rooms and a concealed chamber next to fibre‑optic cables carrying financial and internet data.
- Government officials say security experts have been involved throughout and note that redactions in sensitive planning files are standard practice.
- MI5 and MI6 lodged no formal objections, according to reporting, even as nine Labour MPs urged rejection on security grounds and warned of risks to dissidents.
- The complex would consolidate China’s London operations on the former Royal Mint site into its largest European mission near Mansell Street cable routes serving the City and Canary Wharf, and activists plan a protest on Saturday.