It’s like the Cold War revisited again. China has ordered the United States to close its consulate in Chengdu two days after the United States called for the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas to be shut down, the Spectator Index reported.
The United States and China have been at loggerheads even before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, with the two nations almost getting into a trade war.
Then when COVID-19 pandemic broke out, US President Donald Trump kept referring to it as the Wuhan virus or the Chinese virus, much to the chagrin of the Xi Jinping-led government. Chinese authorities even suggested that the United States was the one to spread the virus after its officials visited China with the infection.
Earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin condemned the US calling for the closing of the US Consulate in Houston, which comes as tensions rise between the world's two largest economies. He warned of firm countermeasures if the U.S. does not reverse its decision.
Media reports in Houston said that authorities had responded to reports of a fire at the consulate. Witnesses said that people were burning paper in what appeared to be trash cans, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing police.
China's move to impose national security law in Hong Kong, its human rights violation in Xinjiang and territorial aggression in South China Sea have all drawn fierce criticism from Washington.
For a period of time, the U.S. government has repeatedly shifted blame to the Chinese side, stigmatized and attacked China, made unprovoked attacks on China's social system, and deliberately put obstacles in the way of Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in the United States. In the meantime, the U.S. side has also intimidated, interrogated Chinese students studying in the United States, confiscated their personal electronic devices, and even detained them for no reason, noted Wang.
