TENSIONS RISE AFTER U.S. ORDERS CLOSURE OF CHINESE CONSULATE IN HOUSTON

CHINESE BURN DOCUMENTS, ETC. & REFUSE TO LET FIRE DEPARTMENT ENTER

"MALICIOUS SLANDER" CHARGE LEVELED

BY LUIS MIGUEL

SEE: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/36467-tensions-rise-after-us-orders-closure-of-chinese-consultate-in-houston;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

In a surprise move, the U.S. government ordered China to shut down its consulate in Houston (shown), citing spying concerns. The Chinese government condemned the order, increasing the already-rising tensions between the two global powers.

The U.S. State Department stated succinctly, “We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information,” announcing that the Chinese consulate must close by Friday.

Beijing indicated that the order “seriously violates” international relations norms and will result in retaliation unless America walks it back.

In a brief statement, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said, “The United States will not tolerate the PRC’s violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRC’s unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior.”

Wang Wenbin, foreign ministry spokesperson for China, declared, “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.” He accused the United States of repeatedly opening Chinese diplomatic pouches without permission and of confiscating Chinese items for official use.

Wang also alleged that American diplomats in China engage in infiltration activities. “If we compare the two, it is only too evident which is engaged in interference, infiltration and confrontation,” he said, adding that the Chinese embassy in Washington allegedly received bomb and death threats.

The Houston Police Department received reports that the embassy began burning documents after 8:00pm on Tuesday evening. According to witnesses, a small amount of smoke could be seen and smelled from the outside. Dozens of local first responders arrived at the scene but did not enter the property.

“You could just smell the paper burning,” a witness at the scene told KPRC 2. “But, all the firefighters were just surrounding the building. They couldn’t go inside.”

The order to shut down the consulate came after the Justice Department on Tuesday unsealed an indictment charging two Chinese hackers with trying to steal coronavirus research from American companies.

According to the indictment, Chinese nationals Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi stole “material on military satellite programs, wireless networks and communication systems, high-powered microwave and laser systems as well as a counter-chemical weapons system” on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). The indictment stated that there were 25 unnamed alleged victims, including a Texas engineering company and a Virginia defense contractor.

“China has now taken its place — alongside Russia, Iran and North Korea — in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cyber criminals in exchange for those criminals being ‘on call’ to work for the benefit of the state,” said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

Bonnie Glaser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said China would “almost certainly shut down the US consulate in Wuhan in retaliation.”

The federal government in recent days has taken a hardline stance against China. 

Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a speech to the Family Leadership Summit that for too long, “foreign policy thinkers” have mistakenly believed more trade with China would make America more free.

“But that’s not what’s happening today,” Pompeo warned. “Today, the Chinese Communist Party is crushing freedom in Hong Kong. It’s threatening a free Taiwan. It’s trying to dominate world communications networks, including those right here in places like Iowa.... We won’t stay still while Communist China tries to crush the world’s freedoms.”

Also last week, Attorney General William Barr criticized China, accusing the communist nation of trying to surpass the U.S. economy and of pressuring American companies to promote pro-China policies.

“Of the American people, they’re stealing the future of our children and grandchildren because it’s been our technological prowess,” the attorney general warned. “It’s created all the prosperity we have and the opportunity we have for future generations.”

He argued that business leaders are “the ones right there who can help us identify who the bad actors are ... and also the first line of defense to make sure that our technology doesn’t fall into the hands of Chinese graduate students or others that are actually working with the Chinese communist party.”