Royal Mint Court Residents Association

Today, the UK Government has approved the Chinese Mega-Embassy. But the fight isn’t over. We are launching a Judicial Review. It is the only way to stop this, but we need your support. Please donate here: gofundme.com/f/stop-the-meg…

BBC segment on the 🇨🇳 mega embassy hearing today featuring me and Mark Nygate of @StopTheEmbassy

❗️🇨🇳 Mega-embassy judicial review hearings tomorrow and Wednesday. Here's what to expect: 1⃣ It would be fairly normal to lose at this stage (administrative court), and then to appeal. A case of this significance naturally points towards to the higher courts. However: 2⃣ The case for the claimants (Royal Mint Court Residents Association @StopTheEmbassy) is strong, and the judge, Lady Justice Lieven, has a reputation for robustly defending the rule of law. 3⃣ Everything is arguable in the law, and nobody should be over-confident in litigation. We don't know which way this is going to go, but we are hopeful. 4⃣ We also don't know when to expect the judgment. Could be a while. The judiciary recess may delay it. 5⃣ The grounds have been set out in some detail in the press, but our ground 1, which addresses enforceability, is a real problem for the government. See the 📸 below, which is a transcription of the letter Boris Johnson sent to Wang Yi in 2018, which, by the way, the UK government refused to release (got a copy anyway). This clearly indicates that diplomatic consent was given in 2018, at which point, under UK law, inviolability attached to the land. To be clear: Royal Mint Court has been inviolable Chinese government land since 2018, which creates major headaches for the enforceability of conditions agreed in the subsequent planning application. 6⃣ If we lose, we will appeal. If the Government loses, I don't know what they will do. A part of me suspects that they hope we will win, so they can blame us in discussions with the Chinese side. This won't work, however, because the CCP does not understand why Ministers simply couldn't make the mega embassy happen for them, and were totally flummoxed by our processes, especially the humiliation of being rejected unanimously by Tower Hamlets Council the first time they applied. Beijing will blame the Government, and you can confidently predict that they will try to punish the UK in the event that their geopolitical ambition is frustrated by a merry band of Tower Hamlets residents and @ipacglobal 7⃣I won't set out all the other grounds here, but will underline that this case will be decided on planning merits alone. That means that geopolitical issues will barely feature. We are trying to establish that the Government acted unlawfully in approving the mega embassy. We had to excise our grounds which alleged that other matters had been taken into account in determining this application (clearly proven by Boris' letter below, IMO, but proving that in court would have entailed costly disclosure hearings). The Government has endless money to deploy, we don't. 8⃣ That said, with the help of superb dissident organisations and ordinary Brits, we managed to raise 215k, and I personally raised more to ensure we have enough to fight this case with the best counsel available. It's incredible to think of the thousands of hours of effort we and the residents have had to put in to defend the UK from this monstrous idea, which would be a disaster for UK national security, and project CCP power to the whole of Europe. I'll try to keep you posted from the courtroom, with the usual caveats surrounding restrictions.

#BREAK Judge REJECTS government’s attempt to dismiss the #megaembassy Judicial Review! Also relying on national security considerations to avoid disclosure. Main hearing early July. 💪

A legal challenge over the approval for a Chinese super-embassy in London is set to be heard at the High Court in June. lbc.co.uk/article/chines…

#NEW Mega-embassy judicial review claimants write to @GOVUK demanding disclosure of Government documents. It’s going to get messy. telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/…

Chinese embassy opponents to seek judicial review bbc.in/4r45zgQ

Luke de Pulford of @ipacglobal said: “The blistering speed with which this crowdfunder has reached its target is a clear indication of the sheer unpopularity of this mega-embassy. It remains to be seen if the world’s second superpower is a match for UK planning law.”

Mark Nygate said: “We are humbled that so many of those persecuted by the CCP, together with ordinary Brits up and down the country, have placed their faith in us, and stood by residents. We won’t waste a single penny in ensuring that this embassy plan fails.”

#BREAKING 🤯 We did it! Our mega-embassy crowdfunder EXCEEDED its target in under 12 hours!! Huge thanks to the @ipacglobal team, the courageous activists who joined the press conference today, and the 3,500 donors!! ❤️❤️ See you in court! #NoMegaEmbassy

Mega CCP Embassy: We now know that, in spite of years of campaigners, lawyers, and parliamentarians raising concerns about the PRC mega-embassy, the government has decided to go ahead anyway.  We are in a dangerous geopolitical moment. China is explicit about their desire for what they call the “Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation”. This ideology is not about fair competition on the world stage. It is about subjugating the United States and reshaping the international order in the image of the Chinese Communist Party.  We cannot imagine our Cold War leaders allowing the Soviets to build the biggest embassy in Europe in London. It would have been unthinkable. Yet, this is exactly what we have permitted here. Before going to Beijing @Keir_Starmer should announce that a moratorium will be imposed, preventing the mega embassy from proceeding until British citizen Jimmy Lai is freed from jail; until sanctions on parliamentarians are lifted; until genocide against Uyghur Muslims ends; and until bounties on U.K. residents are removed.

"We stand at a very dangerous crossroads." Life peer Lord David Alton says it's amazing the government would want to be 'so out of step with our allies' to approve plans for a Chinese 'super embassy'. trib.al/ufgcwoD 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube

Today in Westminster, IPAC 🇬🇧 members gathered to support residents who have formally launched a judicial review against the approval of the 🇨🇳 mega-embassy. Residents are crowdfunding to back their legal challenge 👇
gofundme.com/f/stop-the-meg…

🚨🚨 #BREAKING UK Government approves Chinese mega-embassy. Residents, campaigners and politicians will host a press conference in reaction to this decision today: ⏲️ 2.30PM 📍 VICTORIA TOWER GARDENS SOUTH gov.uk/government/pub…

Thanks @Geri_E_L_Scott for this @thetimes interview covering: 1️⃣ Mega-embassy campaign moving to the courts 2️⃣ Govt abdication of national security responsibilities 3️⃣ Why caring about 🇨🇳 should be a left-wing cause 4️⃣ Why Taiwan is 🇬🇧’s problem + more: thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Thank you. We need your support. See you Saturday!!

Brilliant cartoon in the @Telegraph on the Chinese meg-embassy

📍 Royal Mint Court, London 🕖 14:00 | 17 Jan 2026 Posters up. Voices out. This is the final public stand against China’s plan to build a #MegaEmbassy in London. On the streets today are Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Uyghurs, and Chinese activists — standing together, and also standing for #TARA Zhang Yadi, the SOAS student detained by Chinese authorities. Before the UK government makes its final decision on 20 January, this protest is our last chance to say clearly: London must not become a platform for Transnational Repression. It marks 162 days since Tara Zhang Yadi was taken in China. Living abroad since 2022, she has dedicated her work to peaceful dialogue between Tibetans and Han Chinese, writing in Chinese about the sufferings in Tibet. For this, she now faces the charge of “inciting separatism” — a deliberately vague accusation long used to criminalise Tibetan and Uyghur voices. What happens in China does not stay in China. Surveillance, intimidation, and arbitrary detention travel across borders — unless we resist. Transnational repression ends where solidarity begins.

Stand with local residents and make your voice heard. Saturday, 17th January at 2pm, join us outside the Royal Mint Court, London, to protest the proposed Chinese mega-embassy. The proposal would create one of the largest embassies in the world and has been surrounded by secrecy, controversy, and serious national security concerns. 📍 Royal Mint Court, London 🕑 2pm, Saturday 17 January

Saturday Jan.17,2.00pm -last chance to protest before the decision on the CCP regime’s mega embassy is made by ⁦@Keir_Starmer⁩ Please support residents as they take this battle to the courts.Don’t forget Hong Kong,Uyghur Muslims,Tibet,Taiwan & CCP transnational repression