The United States (U.S.) closed its Consulate General in the Southwestern city of Chengdu in People’s Republic of China today, i.e., Saturday, July 25, 2020 on the orders of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
The order to close the U.S. Consulate is a retaliatory measure from the Chinese Government after the U.S. Department of State ordered China to close its consulate in Houston in U.S., latest by Friday, i.e., July 24, 2020, on charges of espionage.
The Chengdu Consular District covered the autonomous region of Tibet, the municipality of Chongqing, and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. Thousands of people gathered outside the Chengdu Consulate as the workers inside the Consulate packed their stuff and left the compound of the Consulate.
During the process of vacation, workers were seen moving out with hands full of assorted boxes. They were also seen carrying stuff on 2-wheelers. The maintenance team also removed the American insignia from an exterior wall. Besides, Chinese people lit Chinese citizens lit firecrackers in front of consulate after the U.S. officials left the compound.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China read, “The current situation between China and the U.S. is something the Chinese side does not want to see.”
The statement further read, “We again urge the U.S. side to immediately revoke its relevant wrong decisions, to create necessary conditions for the two countries’ relationship to return to normal.”
Last time Chengdu consulate saw such a huge crowd outside the compound was in 1999, after the U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. That incident sparked mass protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and its consulates across China.
Earlier on Friday, the Chinese officials also vacated their Consulate in Houston. The U.S. Federal Agents and Law Enforcement team entered the premises alongwith a locksmith. U.S. said that the decision to close the consulate had been made to protect American Intellectual Property (IP) and American’s private information. The consulate was one of five consulates in the U.S., excluding the Embassy in Washington DC.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice read, “Consulates have been giving individuals in that network guidance on how to evade [and] obstruct our investigation. And you can infer from that the ability to task that [a] network of associates nationwide.”
The U.S. Department of Justice had recently charged 4 people with visa fraud in connection with a scheme to lie about their status as members of the People’s Liberation Army while conducting research in the U.S.
In an open letter posted on the website of Chinese consulate in Houston, consul Cai Wei said the bilateral cooperation between the Chinese Government and America’s Southern States would continue despite the consulate’s closure, and the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. will make “appropriate arrangements” in continuing such cooperation as well as consular affairs.
