China retaliates, US consulate closed
China has retaliated against the US and announced the closure of its Consulate General in Changdu.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that this week is a necessary and valid response against the US decision to close the Chinese Embassy in Houston.
The ministry said, “There is a current situation between China and America which China does not want to see and America is fully responsible for it.”
This Consulate General was established in Changdu in 1985, employing more than 200 people, and was also strategically important because it was close to Tibet.
At the same time, the US has arrested three Chinese citizens in visa fraud case and a fourth Chinese citizen is also being arrested.
The fourth person is a woman present at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco.
According to the US Department of Justice, the arrested Chinese citizens have allegedly lied about being members of the Chinese military.
Controversy is going on between China and America on many issues. From the trade with the Trump administration to the Corona virus, there have been many verbal skirmishes. At the same time, the US had strongly objected to the implementation of the disputed security law in Hong Kong.
Why America closed the Chinese Embassy
The Trump administration ordered the Houston embassy closed by Friday. The administration alleges that it spies and steals intellectual property.
US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said that “it has been decided to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston to protect US intellectual property and the personal information of its citizens.”
He alleged that ‘China was doing anti-country activities in America through this embassy’.
China too had said ‘retaliatory talk’, showing aggressive attitude. The Chinese Foreign Ministry had said that ‘we urge the US government to cancel its unfair decision immediately.’
Earlier there were some reports in US media that a large number of documents are being burnt inside the Chinese Embassy.
Allegations of running paper in the embassy
On Tuesday, some unknown persons inside the building were also filmed, who were setting fire to some big boxes full of papers. After this, he saw the fire rising, tried to extinguish it by adding water.
Houston police tweeted that ‘one of their teams had gone there, but they were not allowed inside the embassy.’
The police had also confirmed smoke from inside the embassy. But the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not comment on this, instead said that ‘everything is normal and is going on as before’.
Only after this incident, this statement came from the Trump administration at the consulate.
Earlier on Tuesday, a US department alleged that ‘China is sponsoring some hackers to target laboratories developing Kovid-19 vaccine’.
