The United States government has ordered China to “cease all operations and events” at its consulate in Houston, Texas. The order has escalated already existing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Ties between United States and China have ebbed in the last 12 months, amid lingering trade war, COVID-19 pandemic and US condemnation of China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
The spokesperson of State Department, Morgan Ortagus said the Chinese consulate was ordered to close “in order to protect American intellectual property and the private information of Americans.”
Houston police recently said they made a response to reports of smoke in the courtyard outside the consulate in Montrose Boulevard, Houston, Texas.
Also, there was a circulated video of officials inside the compound burning documents.
While responding to the sudden order, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, labeled the US actions as an “unprecedented escalation” in recent actions taken by Washington.
Also, the Chinese Foreign Ministry tweeted that the order to close down the consulate was a “political provocation unilaterally launched by the US side, which seriously violates international law, basic norms governing international relations and the bilateral consular agreement between China and the US.”
The Foreign Ministry added that “China strongly condemns such an outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage China-US relations.
“We urge the US to immediately withdraw its erroneous decision, otherwise China will make legitimate and necessary reactions.
“The US has been shifting the blame to China with stigmatization and unwarranted attacks against China’s social system, harassing Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in the US, intimidating and interrogating Chinese students and confiscating their personal electrical devices, even detaining them without cause.
“China is committed to the principle of non-interference. Infiltration and interference is never in the genes and tradition of China’s foreign policy.”
