Sputnik News – The Global Times’ editor-in-chief had claimed earlier that Washington asked Beijing to close down one of its five consulates in the country, specifically, the one located in Houston, Texas. The Chinese Foreign Ministry later confirmed this report.
The United States has asked China to close its Passport and Visa Office at the China Consulate General in Houston, Texas, according to the Global Times editor-in-chief, as cited by Reuters.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the development, saying that Washington had “abruptly” informed Beijing to close down its Texas consulate on 21 July.
According to daily briefing of Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, Beijing has strongly condemned the decision and called upon the US to rescind the move, while suggesting retaliatory measures in response, as quoted by Reuters.
During the briefing, Wang Wenbin also described the US decision as a “political provocation” and “a grave violation of international law”.
“China firmly condemns this revolting and unjustified move, undermining Chinese-US relations … China calls on the US to immediately abolish this erroneous decision,” the official added.
Booted From Texas
Beijing currently operates five Consulates-General in the United States, including those in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC.
According to local KPRC 2, quoting the Houston Police Department, the police and fire officials responded to reports earlier about a fire being sighted in the courtyard of the Consulate on Tuesday night.
Reports suggested that the fire was the result of documents being burned in the building’s courtyard.
Commenting on reports about documents being burned in the consulate’s courtyard, Wang Wenbin said that the Houston office was operating “normally”.
The development signified a “decouple” and “chicken game” in China-US relations, says Dr. Wang Yiwei, Director of the Institute of International Affairs and Center for European Studies at Renmin University of Beijing.
“Trump can only press China to re-win the election, to get out from the troubles. Even he can not reach such goal. More dangerous actions such as cut diplomatic relations and military conflicits may happen as well, if China shows weak. Trump is enforcing China to sacrifice for his re-election, by hijacking American voters, American alliance,” the professor adds.
The Latest Turn in Deteriorating Relations?
The China-US relationship has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, as US President Donald Trump repeatedly blamed the spreading of the virus on Beijing. US officials had said earlier that they were mulling over various options to “punish” China for the number of deaths which have resulted from the pandemic, including banning some of its most popular social media platforms, such as TikTok. However, according to China’s foreign ministry, the order to shut down its consulate was rather unexpected.
Washington has also been pressuring its Five Eyes intelligence alliance partners (the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to abstain from allowing Chinese giant Huawei to enter their national 5G networks, citing long-disputed claims about the company’s espionage activities on behalf of Beijing.
Recently, the UK made a U-turn by announcing that it would ban Huawei, a world leader in producing 5G equipment, from its market, despite its January decision to partner with the company in its national fifth-generation-technology rollout. Donald Trump said at that time that it was the United States who “convinced” its partners about alleged security risks associated with the firm, a statement that was criticised by British officials as “claiming credit” for the decision, that was primarily based on a “technical assessment”. Some, however, later suggested that it was still the need to conclude a trade deal with the United States that influenced the British decision to remove Huawei equipment from the country’s 5G networks by 2027.
