​​​​​​​LONDON

The British government gave the green light Tuesday to the construction of a "mega" Chinese Embassy in London after years of debate and security concerns.

Beijing bought the 20,000-square-meter (215,000-square feet) site at the Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London in 2018 for £225 million ($302 million), which would be the biggest embassy of its kind in Europe, the BBC reported.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said the decision to approve the plan is "now final unless it is successfully challenged in court."

James Cleverly, the shadow communities secretary of the Conservative Party, called the approval "a disgraceful act of cowardice." And the Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller described the move as Prime Minister Keir Starmer's "biggest mistake yet."

Citing a security threat, Reform UK said it would "never have approved" the embassy.

Meanwhile, the head of MI5, the British intelligence agency, said national security threats cannot be wholly eliminated, but acknowledged the assessment to mitigate risk has been "expert, professional and proportionate."

A government spokesman noted that intelligence agencies had been involved throughout, with an "extensive range of measures" to "manage any risks."

The decision to approve the embassy plan, which has already been dubbed "mega," came amid discussions about Chinese spying in the UK and claims about China's targeting of dissidents.​​​​​​​