JUST IN: China has officially ordered the U.S. to close its consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu in an expected retaliation against the ordered closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston earlier this week.
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Beijing defended its response as,"a legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the United States.""The U.S. unilaterally provoked the incident," the statement said, and had"violated international law and the basic norms of international relations" by ordering the Houston consulate closure and"seriously damaged Sino-U.S. relations."
Opened in 1985, the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu is a strategically important outpost for the U.S. mission in China, covering the southwestern region of China, including Tibet and the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan. According to its website, the consulate has roughly 50 US diplomats stationed there during pre-pandemic times, with an additional 150 Chinese national staff members.The closure of the Chengdu would be roughly reciprocal to the 60 or so Chinese diplomats stationed in Houston.
This file photo taken on September 18, 2012 shows a Chinese paramilitary policeman gesturing to photographers at the entrance to the US consulate in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province. - China said on July 24, 2020 it had revoked the license for the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, in retaliation for the closure of China's Houston consulate earlier this week.
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