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A determination on whether to authorize Beijing's application for a fresh large diplomatic complex in London has been delayed anew by the government.

Residential Affairs Secretary Steve Reed had been due to rule on the request by 21 October, but the cut-off date has been pushed back to 10 December.

It is the second occasion the administration has delayed a decision on the disputed site, whose location has triggered concerns it could create an intelligence gathering danger.

A decision had initially been scheduled by 9 September after ministers assumed authority of the operation from Tower Hamlets, the municipal authority, last year.

Security Concerns Brought Up

China purchased the location of the planned recent embassy, at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the suggested development would be the largest embassy in Europe if it goes ahead.

The pending decision on whether to sanction the new embassy was already under detailed review because of apprehensions about the protection ramifications of the plan, including the location, size and design of the facility.

The site is adjacent to data transmission cables transporting transmissions to and from banking organizations in the City of London. Worries have been highlighted that China representatives could employ the location to intercept the connections and monitor communications.

Current Updates

Additional inquiries have been highlighted in recent weeks about the type of the threat posed by Beijing, following the termination of the legal proceeding against two men alleged of espionage for China.

The National Prosecution Authority surprisingly withdrawn accusations against legislative research specialist Christopher Cash, 30, and scholar Christopher Berry, 33, last month. Both men refute the accusations.

Previous Delays

The administration's primary deferral was asked for by Reed's former secretary Angela Rayner, after she requested China to clarify why particular spaces within its development papers had been obscured for "security reasons".

Architectural specialists working for the Chinese embassy had replied that China "does not consider that, as a matter of principle, it is required or fitting to supply full internal layout plans".

Rayner had written back to organizations participating in the review, including China, the Metropolitan Police and a local residents' association, to allow additional time to respond to the schemes and putting the time limit later to 21 October.

Present Circumstances

Reed, who assumed the residential portfolio following Rayner's resignation last month, has now requested extra time before a ultimate ruling must be reached.

In a letter reviewed by media outlets, the accommodation ministry said extra time was required due to the "comprehensive character" of responses received so far.

It added that it was unable to set a new deadline for new responses until it gets pending responses from the Foreign Office and Domestic Affairs Department.

Suggested Features

The planned facility would include offices, a substantial underground space, accommodation for 200 employees, and a new tunnel to link the Embassy House to a independent facility on the embassy grounds.

Official Statements

Beijing's proposal for the embassy was initially rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over security and protection worries.

It resubmitted an identical request to the municipal government in August 2024, one month after Labour came to power.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK has earlier stated the new complex would improve "shared productive collaboration" between China and Britain.

In a new diplomatic note released together with Reed's correspondence detailing his reasons for the latest delay, a Chinese official said objections to the property were "either baseless or unreasonable".

Critical Perspectives

The Opposition Party said Government officials should throw out the application, and alleged them of trying to "muffle the warnings about the threats to national security" posed by the diplomatic property.

The Alternative Group also requested the request to be prevented, encouraging the administration to "stand up to China".

Diplomatic Affairs commentator Calum Miller said it would be "insane" for cabinet members to authorize the embassy development to go ahead, after warnings from the chief of MI5 on Thursday about the risk of Chinese espionage.

Security Worries

A former chief advisor to Boris Johnson said MI5 and MI6 had warned him China was "seeking to establish a intelligence facility beneath the embassy," when he was working at Downing Street.

Speaking on a public affairs broadcast, the counselor said the services had advised him that permitting the embassy to be constructed would be "an extremely bad idea".

In his annual speech, the intelligence chief said "China national operatives" constituted a state security danger to the UK "each day".

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