Ministers delay planning decision on Chinese super-embassy' in London

"Ministers have delayed a decision on whether to grant planning permission to a proposed Chinese super-embassy in London amid concerns about redacted drawings in the building's plans. The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, was due to make a decision on 9 September but has pushed this back to 21 October, saying more time is needed to consider the plans for the development, which would occupy a sprawling 20,000 sq metres (5 acres) at Royal Mint Court in east London."

"Earlier this month, Rayner, who also serves as the housing secretary, gave the Chinese embassy two weeks to send additional details about its plans. In a letter, she noted that two of the proposed embassy buildings in the drawings the Cultural Exchange Building and Embassy House had been greyed out. She wrote to the planning consultancy in charge of the Chinese embassy proposal, asking it to identify precisely and comprehensively the drawings that had been redacted and explain the rationale and justification for the redactions."

"In correspondence published by Luke de Pulford, the executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, one of several parties that has objected to the embassy's construction, the consultancy said: The applicant considers the level of detail shown on the unredacted plans is sufficient to identify the main uses. De Pulford said: These explanations are far from satisfactory. The government set very few conditions and the Chinese didn't even meet those. Now, to visit the abbey ruins, dissidents who want to visit will be on Chinese land, vulnerable to capture, out of the reach of UK authorities."

A decision on planning permission for a proposed Chinese super-embassy at Royal Mint Court in east London has been postponed from 9 September to 21 October to allow further consideration. The development would cover about 20,000 sq metres (5 acres). Angela Rayner gave the Chinese embassy two weeks to provide more details after two proposed buildings in the drawings, the Cultural Exchange Building and Embassy House, were greyed out. The planning consultancy refused to provide full internal layouts, saying unredacted plans show main uses. The proposal faces local opposition and protests linked to Beijing's human-rights record in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

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