Keir Starmer to approve Chinese embassy plan with blessing of MI5
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to formally approve a new super-sized Chinese embassy in the heart of London next month after being given the green light by MI5 and MI6.
The Times has been told that the Home Office and the Foreign Office will not raise any formal objections to the plan, providing that appropriate “mitigations” are put in place to protect national security.
The two departments, which represent the security services, are expected to submit their formal responses to the planned embassy in the coming days before a decision is made on December 10. A Whitehall source said the embassy’s approval was likely to be a “formality”.
1
New
Eurovision 2026 final review: Bulgaria beats Israel on night of perspiration
TV & Radio
Eurovision 2026 final review: Bulgaria beats Israel on night of perspiration
2
Seven PMs in ten years? How British politics got into this mess
Politics
Seven PMs in ten years? How British politics got into this mess
3
Pakistan’s PM is ecstatic to be US-Iran peacemaker. Not everyone agrees
Asia
Pakistan’s PM is ecstatic to be US-Iran peacemaker. Not everyone agrees
4
Kylie Minogue on her loves, her losses and what cancer taught her
Celebrity
Kylie Minogue on her loves, her losses and what cancer taught her
5
‘How could I do motherhood without having a mother myself?’
Parenting
‘How could I do motherhood without having a mother myself?’
Starmer is also expected to travel to China next year as Britain seeks to bolster economic relations with Beijing, despite concerns that it is carrying out large-scale espionage against the UK.
Tensions between Britain and China have grown since the collapse of a spy trial in which two men — Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry — were accused of passing information on to Beijing. The pair deny wrongdoing, and the case was brought to a halt after the government refused to describe China as a threat to national security.
China had warned of “consequences” if its new UK embassy was not given planning permission. A decision on the development at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London — above a vast web of fibre-optic cables used to carry information into the City of London — had been delayed repeatedly.
Banned tech firms fuel fear China’s embassy will be a spy base
Sky News said Starmer is now preparing to travel to Beijing in January, although no final decision has been made. If the trip goes ahead he will become the first UK prime minister to visit China since Theresa May in 2018.
Liz Kendall, the science secretary, refused to comment directly but acknowledged ministers wanted to work with China in key areas without compromising national security.
1
New
Eurovision 2026 final review: Bulgaria beats Israel on night of perspiration
TV & Radio
Eurovision 2026 final review: Bulgaria beats Israel on night of perspiration
2
New
Harry Styles review: this is the sound of the anti-manosphere
Music
Harry Styles review: this is the sound of the anti-manosphere
3
Gary O’Donoghue: Blindness made my mother consider killing us
Media
Gary O’Donoghue: Blindness made my mother consider killing us
4
New
Government backs plans for Olympic Games in north of England
Olympics
Government backs plans for Olympic Games in north of England
5
Modena attack: driver hits crowd in Italy then attempts stabbing
Europe
Modena attack: driver hits crowd in Italy then attempts stabbing
She told Times Radio: “What I do know is that this government is determined to do everything possible we can to keep our country safe. And that will never be, never ever be compromised. But we also, where we can safely, want to make sure that we work with China in key areas.”
Asked about the potential for Starmer to visit China next year, she said: “I don’t know what the prime minister’s diary looks like at the beginning of next year, or indeed at any point. But what I will just say to your listeners is we are very clear eyed about our relationship with China.
“Our national security always comes first and we will always raise issues of concern with them. But we will also, we are realists and if there are areas where we can work with China safely on our economy or on research, that’s what we’ll do.”
The proposed trip and approval for the embassy both risk a political backlash after the security services warned that Beijing is carrying out mass espionage against British targets.
Chinese intelligence officers attempted to recruit “thousands” of people linked to Westminster in a vast online operation that specifically targeted the “weak underbelly of parliament”, Whitehall sources have said.
Officials believe it used two recruitment “headhunters”, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, to contact parliamentary staff, advisers and policy specialists as part of a “scattergun” effort to identify people with access to sensitive political information. Qiu and Shen were contacted for comment.
The pair were highlighted, sources said, because they were allegedly the most prolific among a wider group of Chinese intelligence assets still operating.
“They kissed a lot of frogs,” one Whitehall source told The Times. “This was a widespread scattergun targeting. They certainly sent out thousands of approaches. Some of it was dismissed as spam, but it was an effort spread far and wide. They only need one out of hundreds to respond; that’s a win for them.” Qiu and Shen were contacted for comment.
MI5 told MPs and peers that China was offering “large financial incentives for seemingly low-level information” as a way of building relationships and encouraging targets to provide “non-public sensitive information”. Those approached included advisers to former Conservative ministers, including an ex-chancellor; advisers to Labour ministers; and officials and researchers at several think tanks, among them the Tony Blair Institute.
The agency said China was attempting to “cultivate” people who were “one step removed” from high-priority parliamentary figures, and urged MPs to be wary of “unusual questions” from colleagues or contacts that might indicate intelligence-gathering.
Ordinary Britons should also be cautious about unsolicited online contact from potential Chinese intelligence operatives, the defence minister said.