{"id":36944,"date":"2026-01-21T03:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=36944"},"modified":"2026-01-21T03:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:05:06","slug":"uk-approves-plans-for-chinese-mega-embassy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=36944","title":{"rendered":"UK approves plans for Chinese mega-embassy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The UK government on Tuesday gave China the green light to build a &#8220;mega-embassy&#8221; in the heart of London eight years after Beijing bought the site, triggering fresh anger from residents and rights groups.<\/p>\n<p>The 20,000-square-metre (235,000-square-foot) site is set to become the largest embassy complex in the UK by area, and one of the largest in the centre of a Western capital.<\/p>\n<p>But it could still face legal challenges and residents vowed Tuesday to act.<\/p>\n<p>Housing minister Steve Reed&#8217;s decision to grant planning permission came after several delays over national security concerns.<\/p>\n<p>There have also been protests by activists who fear the sprawling site could be used to spy on and harass dissidents.<\/p>\n<p>Reed said the decision was now final, barring a successful challenge in court.<\/p>\n<p>A government spokesperson said intelligence agencies had helped to develop a &#8220;range of measures&#8230; to manage any risks&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Following extensive negotiations in recent months, the Chinese government has agreed to consolidate its seven current sites in London into one site, bringing clear security advantages,&#8221; the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>Security minister Dan Jarvis said China would continue to pose national security threats.<\/p>\n<p>But he said after &#8220;detailed consideration of all possible risks around this new embassy&#8230; I am assured that the UK&#8217;s national security is protected&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The right-wing Daily Telegraph newspaper said last week it had obtained unredacted plans showing the site would house 208 underground rooms, including a &#8220;hidden chamber&#8221;.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK government on Tuesday gave China the green light to build a &#8220;mega-embassy&#8221; in the heart of London eight years after Beijing bought the site, triggering fresh anger from residents and rights groups. The 20,000-square-metre (235,000-square-foot) site is set to become the largest embassy complex in the UK by area, and one of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36944\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}