Initial plans for a circa 620,000 sq ft diplomatic outpost were filed in 2021. As well as an embassy, the site would also contain offices, 225 homes and a “cultural exchange” building.
It would sit three miles east of Westminster, and be more than 10 times the size of China’s existing base at Portland Place in Marylebone. The Chinese government bought the listed site for more than £255m in 2018.
Proposals for the “super embassy” faced strong opposition from MPs and local residents.
The council received 51 objections to the initial proposals, citing safety and security concerns as well as the potential risk of protests in the area.
Pro-democracy protesters were beaten outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester in 2022 by men who appeared to emerge from the building. Opponents of the London project cited this incident and raised concerns that the building could become a “secret police station”.
The Chinese state dismissed objections at the time as “non-material”.
Sir Iain said the revived plans should be rejected once more. He said: “If [China] wants an embassy it should be away from the main part of the city, as the US has done and others are doing.”
Tensions between the UK and China are at a high level. In May, the UK said China was likely behind a hack on the Ministry of Defence, which Beijing denied.
A spokesman for Tower Hamlets Council said: “A new planning and listed building consent application has been submitted to develop an embassy on the site of Royal Mint Court.
“The planning team are reviewing the application and public consultation has commenced. At this stage we do not have a target committee date.”
