Overview
- UK media report that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to sign off on the embassy plan in December, with a reported target date of 10 December pending MI5 and MI6 assessments due within days.
- Starmer is reported to be arranging a visit to China in January 2026, which would be the first by a UK prime minister since 2018.
- MI5 on 18 November publicly named two alleged Chinese intelligence operatives said to have approached UK parliamentary staff, a claim China has denied.
- The planned mission would occupy the Old Royal Mint site near the Tower of London between the City and Canary Wharf, a location critics say poses data‑security risks due to nearby underground fiber‑optic networks.
- China bought the site in 2018 for about £255 million and the new compound is expected to be among the largest Chinese embassies in Europe.