China orders US to close its consulate in Chengdu in tit for tat retaliation after Trump closed down Houston consulate amid spying accusations
- China ordered the United States on Friday to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu
- The move was a response to the Trump administration’s order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston
- The Houston order came after Washington accused Chinese agents of trying to steal medical and other research in Texas
- The ministry on Thursday rejected the allegations as ‘malicious slander’
- They warned the Houston consulate’s closure was ‘breaking down the bridge of friendship’ between the two countries
China ordered the United States on Friday to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu, ratcheting up a diplomatic conflict at a time when relations have sunk to their lowest level in decades.
The move was a response to the Trump administration’s order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston after Washington accused Chinese agents of trying to steal medical and other research in Texas.
The Chinese foreign ministry appealed to Washington to reverse its ‘wrong decision.’
China has ordered the United States to close its consulate in the western city of Chengdu in an increasingly rancorous diplomatic conflict
The move was a response to the Trump administration’s order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston. The Chinese Consulate is shown Thursday in Houston. The ministry on Thursday rejected the allegations by President Trump as ‘malicious slander’
People walk by the US Consulate-General in Chengdu on Thursday in the Sichuan Province of China
Chinese-U.S. relations have soured amid a mounting array of conflicts including trade, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, technology, spying accusations, Hong Kong and allegations of abuses against Chinese ethnic Muslims.
‘The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States,’ said a foreign ministry statement.
‘The current situation in Chinese-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see. The United States is responsible for all this,’ the ministry said.
‘We once again urge the United States to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.’
A FedEx employee removes a box from the Chinese Consulate Thursday, in Houston
China says ‘malicious slander’ is behind an order by the U.S. government to close its consulate in Houston. People are pictured moving bags out of the building on Thursday
A man loads the back of a van with a bag from inside the Chinese Consulate in Houston
On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered the Houston consulate closed within 72 hours. It alleged Chinese agents tried to steal data from facilities including the Texas A&M medical system.
The ministry on Thursday rejected the allegations as ‘malicious slander’ and warned the Houston consulate’s closure was ‘breaking down the bridge of friendship’ between the two countries.
The United States has an embassy in Beijing and consulates in five other mainland cities – Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang and Wuhan.
It also has a consulate in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory.
A security guard, right, talks with a man inside the Chinese Consulate on Thursday