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A ruling on whether to approve Chinese proposal for a recent substantial consulate in London has been deferred anew by the administration.

Housing Minister Steve Reed had been scheduled to decide on the proposal by 21 October, but the cut-off date has been extended to 10 December.

It is the second occasion the government has delayed a ruling on the contentious location, whose position has triggered worries it could create an spying threat.

A ruling had originally been due by 9 September after ministers gained oversight of the operation from Tower Hamlets, the local council, last year.

Protection Issues Brought Up

China bought the site of the proposed fresh embassy, at Royal Mint Court, adjacent to the Tower of London, for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the proposed complex would be the largest embassy in Europe if it goes ahead.

The pending ruling on whether to approve the fresh embassy was earlier under close scrutiny because of apprehensions about the safety consequences of the plan, including the location, dimensions and layout of the facility.

The site is near fibre optic cables transporting messages to and from financial institutions in the City of London. Concerns have been raised that Chinese operatives could employ the location to intercept the cables and monitor communications.

Latest Changes

Further questions have been highlighted in recent weeks about the character of the threat created by Beijing, following the termination of the case against two men accused of espionage for China.

The Crown Prosecution Service unforeseeably discontinued prosecutions against parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 30, and academic Christopher Berry, 33, last month. Both men contest the claims.

Previous Delays

The government's primary deferral was requested by Reed's former secretary Angela Rayner, after she asked China to explain why certain areas within its development papers had been obscured for "safety concerns".

Development advisors representing the China consulate had responded that China "does not feel that, as a basic concept, it is necessary or appropriate to provide detailed room arrangements".

Rayner had written back to groups participating in the discussion, including China, the Metropolitan Police and a local residents' association, to allow additional time to respond to the plans and placing the deadline back to 21 October.

Existing Conditions

Reed, who took over the housing role following Rayner's resignation last month, has now requested more time before a conclusive determination needs to be made.

In a correspondence reviewed by media outlets, the residential authority said additional time was necessary due to the "thorough quality" of responses received so far.

It stated that it was not able to set a new deadline for new responses until it obtains pending responses from the International Relations Department and Domestic Affairs Department.

Suggested Features

The planned facility would contain offices, a substantial underground space, housing for 200 staff, and a new tunnel to connect the Embassy House to a independent facility on the consulate property.

Political Reactions

Beijing's proposal for the embassy was originally denied by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over safety and security concerns.

It resubmitted an identical proposal to the municipal government in August 2024, one month after the administration changed.

The China Consulate in the UK has earlier stated the recent development would strengthen "mutually beneficial cooperation" between China and Britain.

In a fresh official communication published accompanying Reed's correspondence clarifying his reasons for the most recent postponement, a Chinese official said disapprovals to the property were "either ill-founded or unjustified".

Opposition Views

The Conservatives said Government officials should dismiss the proposal, and accused them of trying to "suppress the warnings about the dangers to country protection" created by the consulate location.

The Alternative Group also demanded the application to be blocked, calling on the government to "resist China".

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said it would be "crazy" for government officials to authorize the consulate construction to proceed, after cautions from the head of MI5 on Thursday about the danger of China intelligence gathering.

Intelligence Concerns

A former chief advisor to Boris Johnson said MI5 and MI6 had cautions him China was "attempting to construct a intelligence facility below the embassy," when he was serving in Downing Street.

Remarks made on a public affairs broadcast, the advisor said the organizations had informed him that allowing the embassy to be built would be "an extremely bad idea".

In his annual speech, the security director said "Chinese state actors" presented a national security threat to the UK "daily".

He mentioned that the UK needed to "guard itself strongly" against China, while also being able to "take advantage of the possibilities" from sustaining ties with Beijing.