Beijing: China denounced today that the United States sabotages bilateral ties and also violates seriously the diplomatic protocols, by unilaterally ordering the closure of the consulate general in Houston, another aggravating disagreement between the two powers, Prensa Latina publishes.
The previous day, the White House ordered the Chinese consulate to cease operations immediately and gave it until Friday for officials to leave the country.
Hua Chungying, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, expressed Beijing’s official rejection of that decision by Washington and demanded to revoke an act that she described as unjustified, a political provocation and an affront to the Sino-US consular agreements.
According to the spokeswoman, the surprise closure of the Houston office fuels the escalation of pressure against China and its representatives on US soil.
At that point, she deplored Washington’s continued efforts to stigmatize and attack the social system of this Asian state, harass its diplomatic personnel, intimidate and interrogate students, arrest them and confiscate their electronic equipment without any cause.
Hua also mentioned restrictions on officials, death threats, revision and confiscation of articles for official use, which is contrary to the Vienna conventions on diplomatic work.
She denied accusations of infiltration and interference, after noting that the American embassy in Beijing does meddle in China’s internal affairs with the constant publication of conflicting articles.
Among other issues, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson assured that there is reciprocity in the treatment that the United States mission receives here and even its payroll is higher than that of China in Washington.
That move, along with her insistence on meddling in sensitive issues like Tibet, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan, put bilateral relations at its worst, and even recently, Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that it is pushing both powers towards the Cold War.