US says it is ‘done to protect intellectual property’
WEB DESK / AMN
The United States has asked China to close its Houston consulate. Calling the move “outrageous and unjustified”, China said it will sabotage China-US relations. Beijing also termed it as a “political provocation” that will further harm diplomatic relations.
The move comes amid heightened tensions between the two nations after China passed the draconian national security law in Hong Kong. Washington has also been highly critical of China over its human rights violation in Xinjiang and territorial aggression in the South China Sea.
Speaking on the development, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called it a wrong decision urging the US to immediately withdraw the order.
It will sabotage China-US relations
China will definitely take a proper and necessary response, he said stating that this political provocation “unilaterally launched by the US side, which seriously violates international law and bilateral consular agreement between China and the US.”
US action came after a local media in Houston reported that firefighters and police were called to the consulate building on Tuesday evening on reports that documents were being burned in the building’s courtyard but officers were not granted access to enter the building.
‘Decision taken to protect US intellectual property and private information’
Meanwhile, the US State Department has said that the decision to close China’s consulate in Houston was taken to protect Americans’ intellectual property and private information.
“We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information,” State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus told reporters during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Copenhagen, adding that under the Vienna Convention states “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the receiving state.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday accused China of bullying smaller countries and cautioned Beijing over “coercive behaviour” in the South China Sea.