Overview
- The government attributed the postponement to delays in receiving input from multiple departments.
- The Chinese embassy accused Britain of lacking credibility, asserted it had UK consent in 2018 to buy Royal Mint Court, and rejected security fears as malicious slander.
- Senior City of London figures voiced concern about fibre‑optic cables beneath the proposed site near the Tower of London, with an engineering expert warning undetected tapping could be feasible.
- Conservative MPs Alicia Kearns and Tom Tugendhat urged Keir Starmer to block the application and to place China in the top tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme after a spying case collapsed.
- The project has faced years of local and political opposition, the application sits with Tower Hamlets Council, and the City of London Corporation has not been part of the process and declined to comment.