On 8 February, thousands of protesters congregated outside the Royal Mint Court, the former UK’s coin maker’s headquarters near the Tower of London. Colourful flags of Uyghur, Taiwan and Hong Kong fluttered under the grey sky, catching angry cries from the crowd, “No mega Chinese embassy!”
China proposed to turn the historic site into the largest embassy in Europe.
The current Chinese embassy in Marylebone was established as China's first overseas diplomatic mission in 1877. In 2018, the Chinese government purchased the Royal Mint Court site for £255m for a new embassy. The Tower Hamlets council and Met Police initially refused the planning proposal for several reasons, including safety concerns of large protests and local residents’ objections. The central government and the Greater London Authority did not intervene at the time.
This changed after Labour took power. China resubmitted the proposal last July, and the local council declined again. However, foreign secretary David Lammy and home secretary Yvette Cooper backed the embassy in a joint letter this January, highlighting “the importance of countries having functioning diplomatic premises”. Three days later, the Met Police withdrew their objection. The abrupt U-turn sparked recent protests.
As the protest slogans suggest, the main controversy is the embassy’s massive scale. Spanning 5.4 acres, it is a 600,000 sq. ft complex including five office buildings, 225 ambassadors’ residences, a cultural exchange centre, shops, and a 2-acre public realm. It is not only 26 times bigger than the current one, but also China’s biggest mission in Europe. It is almost twice the size of that in Washington.
Politically, what does a ‘big’ embassy mean? Ben Baxendale-Smith, a research fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, explained: “China wants a serious presence in the UK. If China can demonstrate that it is a reliable diplomatic actor through the embassy, it may improve its potential for opening similar large embassies in Europe.”
An embassy is a strong physical representation of diplomacy. By allowing a foreign power to erect a huge embassy, the host country invites it to access first-hand political information, meet foreign businesses and exhibit its culture with a stronger presence. Therefore, a larger embassy often signals closer economic and political ties.
The Labour government seeks to strengthen its relationship with China, as seen in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s January visit to Beijing to secure a £600m trade deal. Baxendale-Smith described the Labour government as “pragmatic” as it intervenes in the local council’s decision-making on the new embassy to form economic ties with China as soon as possible. “The Government has decided that potential economic benefits outweigh national security risks,” he remarked.
“We fled Hong Kong for freedom, and the British government permits this embassy? Can we ever be free from suppression?” A protester, who wished to remain anonymous, said while waving a black flag “Free Hong Kong” during the February’s protest. In a statement on Instagram, the Tibetan group Uyghur Community expressed the same fear: “The embassy risks becoming a hub for transnational repression, where Chinese authorities could intensify their surveillance and intimidation of political exiles.”
Known as ‘foreign soil’, an embassy operates under the jurisdiction of the home country rather than where it is physically located. Thus, China has been criticised for oppressing diaspora communities with foreign embassies and consulates. The most notable case in point is the Manchester consulate, where a Hong Kong immigrant was dragged inside and beaten up by a mystery man during an anti-China protest in 2022.
Uyghur, Hong Kong and Taiwanese diaspora in the UK have been protesting against the new embassy since 2020, but this February’s rally was the largest. “Thousands” of protesters, as the media vaguely reported, spilled across most of Tower Bridge Road and Tower Hill. As they led to the closure of nearby lanes of traffic, local resident Millie said during the protest, “How can it accommodate large protests?”
The resident group is another key opposition. Before the Labour government’s intervention, the Met Police and local council rejected China’s planning application primarily because the space in front of the embassy could not accommodate large protests. According to the police’s assessment, demonstrations involving more than 100 people would block traffic and ambulance access to the Royal London Hospital. Yet, it suddenly withdrew its objection last December based on a China-sponsored report, claiming the site could accommodate 2000 protesters. Lammy and Cooper cited it to justify their support of the embassy.
Can the site accommodate 2000 protesters? Back in 2021, a 200-person rally of the environmental group Extinction Rebellion blocked Tower Bridge’s traffic. The police’s assessment methodology is unknown, but protests in the past have made the locals worried about their safety.
The embassy’s proposal inquiry concluded last month, leaving deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to make the final decision. The Royal Mint Court has witnessed historical turning points, from the Black Death to the Battle of Waterloo. Now, it stands at the heart of a critical UK-China diplomatic debate—balancing economic interests, national security, and local concerns.
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