Posted on 07/22/2020 1:28:50 AM PDT by Zhang Fei
The Chinese Foreign Ministry is vowing to retaliate in a dramatic escalation of tensions after it said the United States had demanded Beijing close its consulate in Houston.
Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the US made the demand on Tuesday and described the US move as “unprecedented escalation”.
Wang said the Chinese embassy and consulates in the US had received both explosives and death threats recently.
“China demands the US revoke the wrong decision. If the US went ahead, China would take necessary counter measures,” Wang said.
Wang’s disclosure came after Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of The Global Times, said on Twitter that the US gave 72 hours for China to close the consulate.
“This is a crazy move. The consulate general is the first Chinese CG in the United States. The US has not only asked to close it, but requested evacuation within three days. This is absolute madness. There is apparently no bottom line for some people in Washington. The current US administration is willing to do anything now,” Hu said.
Earlier on Wednesday, US media reported that Houston police and fire officials responded to reports that documents were being burned in the courtyard of the Consulate General of China in Houston on Tuesday night, citing the Houston Police Department.
Houston PD said they began receiving reports that documents were being burned just after 8pm at 3417 Montrose Boulevard where the consulate is located, the click2houston.com reported.
Beijing and Washington are now at odds on almost every front, ranging from engaging in a global blame game over the deadly coronavirus to human rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. In the past few months, Beijing has expelled a dozen journalists representing US media while Washington has imposed new visa restrictions on Chinese nationals working as journalists in the US.
(Excerpt) Read more at globaltimes.cn ...
* "And I like President Xi a lot. I consider him a friend, and -- but I like him a lot. I've gotten to know him very well. He's a strong gentleman, right? Anybody that -- he's a strong guy, tough guy." (June 30, 2019)
* "President Xi, who is a strong man, I call him King, he said, 'But I am not King, I am president.' I said, 'No, you're president for life and therefore, you're King.' He said, 'Huh. Huh.' He liked that." (April 2, 2019)
* "I had President Xi, who's a friend of mine, who's a very, very good man." (April 12, 2018)
And then he does this:
China’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the US for asking the Chinese Consulate General in Houston to close down, a reckless and dangerous move which analysts said will further flare up ongoing tensions between the two largest economies in the world.
The US suddenly asked China to close down its Consulate General in Houston. This is a unilateral political provocation by the US side against China, a grave violation of the international law and basic norms governing international relations, a grave violation of relevant provisions of the China-US consular treaty, and a deliberate attempt to undermine China-US relations, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday.
For some time, the US has been attacking and launching smear campaigns against China, and unreasonably made trouble for staff members at Chinese consulates. The latest move to ask China to close its Consulate General in Houston is an unprecedented escalation of its moves against China, the spokesperson said.
In October 2019 and June 2020, the US side opened Chinese diplomatic bags privately on many occasions, and seized Chinese official supplies, the spokesperson said.
As a result of the recent indiscriminate stigmatization and incitement of hatred by the US, bomb and death threats have been made against Chinese diplomatic missions and personnel in the US, the spokesperson said.
The website of the US Embassy in China often publishes articles openly attacking China. It is clear who is interfering in other countries' internal affairs and who is infiltrating and inciting confrontations, he said.
The Consulate General in Houston is the first Chinese consulate general established in the US. Several Chinese experts on China-US relations said, “Washington is completely out of the line,” while one expert suggested that China could take countermeasures such as shutting down the US Consulate General in Hong Kong.
Some video footage circulating on social media showed documents being burned in the courtyard of the consulate general on Wednesday, with police and firefighters present at the scene.
The last time the Trump administration ordered a foreign consulate on American territory to close down was in August 2017, when it ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, “bearing all of the hallmarks of a Cold War-era grudge match,” according to the New York Times.
Biden and other liberals will support China.
China is certainly not our friend. It’s nice to have a President who sees that clearly.
As a developer, Trump became an expert in combining litigation and dealmaking. China does not know how to deal with an American president who knows their game and how to beat them at it.
Promises made. Promises kept.
In gamer language: Stop playing with your food, Mr. President.
Drop the economic sledgehammer on China already, Mr. President, kkthx.
Ya think maybe the ChiComs sent a message to their space spy palace Consulate:
“Houston, we have a problem.”
Maybe my coffee has not kicked in yet .... but it seems the article is one-sided propaganda - does not mention why the US demanded closure of Houston consulate.
Elsewhere one finds: “US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the consulate was directed to close “in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information.”
Also, from elsewhere on the closure, CCP statement said: “China is committed to the principle of non-interference. Infiltration and interference is never in the genes and tradition of China’s foreign policy.” No mention about CCP involvement in the Vietnam War, or what is going on in US universities ... as examples.
How stupid do these commie bastards think we are?
The deep state criminals have been friends with the CCP for decades, took thier bribes and committed treason. This is why the rats are using the scorched earth policy, its getting close to the real issue jail time for them if not haning from a rope for treason
No, no, no. The “principle of non-interference” is that WE are not allowed to interfere with anything THEY are doing.
Hmmm.... one wonders. Why was the Houston consulate chosen for closure?
What set the Houston Consulate apart?
I am getting to a point, that I despise these traitors so much, I would like to see a few of them get their necks stretched.
Probably a major spy base.
The USSR embassy in Mexico City was the 2nd largest KGB base in the world.
Throw them out. They are thieves.
So where is the sterling and reliable American Press with this story. First word was about the Chinamen burning documents in the yard at the Houston embassy/consulate. No one here had a clue regarding the action. Now, today we get this story from the China Times.
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