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A ruling on whether to authorize Beijing's application for a recent substantial consulate in London has been postponed once more by the administration.

Residential Affairs Secretary Steve Reed had been scheduled to decide on the request by 21 October, but the deadline has been pushed back to 10 December.

It is the second instance the administration has delayed a decision on the controversial location, whose location has sparked worries it could create an spying threat.

A ruling had initially been scheduled by 9 September after ministers gained oversight of the procedure from Tower Hamlets, the municipal authority, last year.

Security Concerns Raised

China purchased the location of the suggested new embassy, at Royal Mint Court, adjacent to the Tower of London, for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the planned facility would be the most substantial embassy in Europe assuming approval.

The awaiting determination on whether to sanction the recent embassy was already under detailed review because of concerns about the safety consequences of the proposal, including the location, size and architecture of the structure.

The property is adjacent to optical fiber lines transmitting messages to and from banking organizations in the City of London. Apprehensions have been raised that Beijing agents could employ the property to intercept the cables and listen in.

Latest Changes

Further questions have been highlighted in the past few weeks about the nature of the risk created by Beijing, following the failure of the prosecution against two men charged of intelligence gathering for China.

The Crown Prosecution Service surprisingly withdrawn accusations against legislative research specialist Christopher Cash, 30, and university researcher Christopher Berry, 33, last month. Both men contest the claims.

Earlier Postponements

The authorities' primary deferral was sought by Reed's predecessor Angela Rayner, after she inquired China to detail why some rooms within its development papers had been obscured for "protection issues".

Architectural specialists employed by the Chinese embassy had answered that China "does not consider that, as a basic concept, it is required or fitting to provide complete interior designs".

Rayner had responded in writing to parties participating in the consultation, including China, the Metropolitan Police and a neighborhood group, to allow additional time to answer to the schemes and setting the cut-off date forward to 21 October.

Present Circumstances

Reed, who took over the accommodation position following Rayner's departure last month, has now requested additional time before a conclusive determination requires completion.

In a document reviewed by media outlets, the residential authority said more time was required due to the "detailed nature" of answers received so far.

It stated that it was not able to establish a fresh cut-off date for additional feedback until it receives awaiting answers from the Foreign Office and Interior Ministry.

Suggested Features

The planned facility would contain work spaces, a large basement area, accommodation for 200 staff, and a new tunnel to join the Embassy House to a independent facility on the embassy grounds.

Government Responses

Beijing's application for the embassy was first refused by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over protection and safety issues.

It submitted again an identical proposal to the authority in August 2024, one month after the new government took office.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK has formerly mentioned the new complex would strengthen "shared productive collaboration" between China and Britain.

In a recent government message released together with Reed's correspondence explaining his reasons for the latest delay, a Chinese official said objections to the property were "either baseless or unjustified".

Opposition Views

The Opposition Party said Labour ministers should dismiss the proposal, and alleged them of trying to "muffle the warnings about the dangers to national security" created by the consulate location.

The Liberal Democrats also called for the proposal to be prevented, urging the administration to "confront China".

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said it would be "insane" for government officials to allow the diplomatic project to go ahead, after warnings from the head of MI5 on Thursday about the risk of China intelligence gathering.

Protection Apprehensions

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

Remarks made on a political podcast, the consultant said the agencies had advised him that allowing the embassy to be erected would be "a very poor decision".

In his regular presentation, the intelligence chief said "Chinese state actors" presented a country protection risk to the UK "daily".

He added that the UK had to "guard itself strongly" against China, while also being able to "seize the opportunities" from sustaining ties with Beijing.