BEIJING: China’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the US for asking the Chinese Consulate General in Houston to close down, a reckless and dangerous move which analysts said will further flare up ongoing tensions between the two largest economies in the world.
The US suddenly asked China to close down its Consulate General in Houston. This is a unilateral political provocation by the US side against China, a grave violation of the international law and basic norms governing international relations, a grave violation of relevant provisions of the China-US consular treaty, and a deliberate attempt to undermine China-US relations, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday.
The Chinese side strongly condemned the move, and urged the US to immediately correct its mistakes. Otherwise, China will make a legitimate and necessary response, the spokesperson said.
For some time, the US has been attacking and launching smear campaigns against China, and unreasonably made trouble for staff members at Chinese consulates. The latest move to ask China to close its Consulate General in Houston is an unprecedented escalation of its moves against China, the spokesperson said.
In October 2019 and June 2020, the US side put up obstacles to Chinese diplomatic staff in the US, opened Chinese diplomatic bags privately on many occasions, and seized Chinese official supplies, the spokesperson said.
As a result of the recent indiscriminate stigmatization and incitement of hatred by the US, bomb and death threats have been made against Chinese diplomatic missions and personnel in the US, the spokesperson said. The website of the US Embassy in China often publishes articles openly attacking China. It is clear who is interfering in other countries’ internal affairs and who is infiltrating and inciting confrontations, he said.
The Consulate General in Houston is the first Chinese consulate general established in the US. Several Chinese experts on China-US relations said, “Washington is completely out of the line,” while one expert suggested that China could take countermeasures such as shutting down the US Consulate General in Hong Kong.
Observers also called the move “unprecedented”, saying it would trigger a broader earthquake in diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Some video footage circulating on social media showed documents being burned in the courtyard of the consulate general on Wednesday, with police and firefighters present at the scene.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
