China's plans for large new London embassy rejected by local officials

LONDON – China’s plans for a new large embassy in London were rejected by local officials on Dec 9 on the grounds it could pose a security risk to nearby residents, putting pressure on the national government to reject the planning application. The Chinese government purchased Royal Mint Court, a historic site near the Tower of London six years ago, but has so far failed to gain planning permission to build a new embassy there. China hoped to build a roughly 700,000-square-foot embassy, which would be China’s biggest mission in Europe and almost twice the size of its one in…