US-China relations continue to worsen as Chinese staff depart from Houston consulate after its closure
A group of people use power tools to try to pry open a rear door of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, US, July 24, 2020. deteriorated in a Cold War-style standoff as Beijing ordered a US consulate to shut in retaliation for the closure of its Houston mission – accused of being a hub for espionage and intellectual property theft.
In the Chinese city of Chengdu, in southwestern Sichuan province, some two dozen police were stationed in front of the US consulate as onlookers took photos before being prodded to move along, with the deadline for the Americans to vacate unclear. And it said that a science researcher at a California university who hid her ties to China's People's Liberation Army and then fled to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco had been arrested and would face visa fraud charges.China blasted the Houston move and blamed Washington for the sharp deterioration in relations.
The Chengdu consulate, established in 1985, has been at the centre of past controversy. It was included on a top-secret map leaked by intelligence analystThe Chengdu mission was also where senior Chinese official Wang Lijun fled in 2012 from his powerful boss Bo Xilai, who was then head of the nearby metropolis Chongqing, and has since been jailed for life for corruption.
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