China says that it has been asked by the US to shut its consulate in Houston, ratcheting up tensions between the world’s superpowers.
Beijing “strongly condemned” the request on Wednesday, with the foreign ministry urging Washington to rethink its decision.
Neither Beijing nor Washington explained about the closure of the consulate.
“We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information,” State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus told reporters during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Copenhagen. Adding that under the Vienna Convention states “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the receiving state.
Relations between the United States and China have deteriorated significantly since the outbreak of the novel corona-virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the beginning of the year.
“The unilateral closure of China’s consulate general in Houston within a short period of time is an unprecedented escalation of its recent actions against China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
“We urge the US to immediately revoke this erroneous decision. Should it insist on going down this wrong path, China will react with firm countermeasures,” he said.
