Thousands turn out to protest China’s UK super embassy

Tibetans, Hongkongers, Uyghurs, Taiwanese and Chinese nationals joined other protesters on Saturday in east London to oppose the proposed “super embassy” in the borough of Tower Hamlets.

Along with local residents and a cross-party group of MPs, they sounded the alarm that the embassy could be a threat to national security and would reward the Chinese government at a time when it is carrying out a range of human rights abuses, threatening Taiwan and has put a bounty on the head of UK-based critics of its rule. 

Local residents have also spoken out against the disruption that the embassy, which would be China’s largest in Europe, would cause to their daily lives and to traffic. The address, Royal Mint Court, is opposite the Tower of London and close to Tower Bridge, both popular tourist sites attracting millions of visitors per year. It is also located on a busy road running from east to central London.

Speakers during the event told the crowd of several thousand people that were the 700,000 square-foot embassy to go ahead, it would contravene the wishes of local residents, Tower Hamlets Council and the Metropolitan Police, who have all previously warned against the project. 

Blair McDougall, a Labour MP, told the crowd: “We have to have red lines in our relations with Beijing. Currently Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, is in prison for exercising the rights that are guaranteed under the agreement between the UK and China. We should not be doing any favours for Beijing while they are in breach of past deals.” Other MPs present included Iain Duncan Smith and Tom Tugendhat.

MPs Iain Duncan Smith, Tom Tugendhat and Blair McDougall spoke out against the super embassy plan

Representatives from the Hong Kong, Uyghur, Taiwanese and Tibetan communities also addressed the crowd, tying their opposition to the super embassy to the threats to their countries and peoples. Namgyal, Youth Coordinator of Tibetan Community in Britain and President of Students for a Free Tibet London, recalled China’s colonial boarding school programme, its attempts to undermine the succession of the Dalai Lama and the continued absence of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the kidnapped Panchen Lama. 

As the protest grew, roads around Royal Mint Court, the site of the proposed embassy, were closed by police. This appeared to bear out concerns raised by two members of the Metropolitan Police at the Strategic Development Committee meeting in December 2024, when the plan was rejected for a second time. At the time, the police noted that anything more than a small protest would most likely spill out into the road.

China purchased the former Royal Mint in 2018, but has twice seen planning permission for an embassy rejected by Tower Hamlets council, first in December 2022, and again in 2024 when it submitted the same application. Both times, the council cited a range of concerns including the lack of capacity for large protests on the site.

The protest spread across the roads surrounding Royal Mint Court. The Tower of London is visible in the background.

Although the Conservative government did not intervene when the proposal was rejected in 2022, the new Labour government called the application in following a call between General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year. Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner is due to make a final decision. A week-long- inquiry is due to commence on 11 February.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have both expressed their support for the proposal, and after initially opposing the plan, the Metropolitan Police dropped their objections, claiming to have seen new evidence about the area’s capacity for protesters. The Metropolitan Police stated it was convinced by a report drawn up for the Chinese government in 2022, saying that up to 4,500 people could fit safely on the streets surrounding the proposed embassy. It is unclear why the 2022 report convinced the Metropolitan Police to change its stance in January 2025 after it had twice opposed to embassy plan.

Members of the Tibetan community protest the embassy

Tower Hamlets Council also was reported as dropping its objections but on Friday, on the eve of the inquiry, issued a statement appearing to renege on this and restating their opposition to the proposal. In its communication, the council said:

“The Council has been notified by the Metropolitan Police that it has formally removed its objection to the planning application as it feels there is sufficient space for future protests to be accommodated without significantly impacting the adjacent road network. [T]he Council is not able to formally submit additional evidence about the removal of the Metropolitan Police’s objection. However, the Committee’s decision and its substantive reason stands.”

Before dispersing, protesters vowed that there would be further gatherings to ensure that the embassy plan would be rejected by the UK government. A final decision is expected in the coming months.