WASHINGTON: In an unmatched escalation of stress with China, the
Trump
administration has purchased the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston within 72 hours, with the following risk of retaliation from Beijing, possibly with the closure of the United States consulate in Wuhan.
The shutdown came hours after President Trump once again blamed Beijing for letting loose the coronavirus on the world, calling it the “China infection,” following which the State Department accused China of a “massive illegal spying and influence operation.” A fire was reported at the Houston consulate as officials supposedly burned documents and files.
While it is not unusual for sparring nations to shut down consulates on a reciprocal basis (US and Russia have actually done it, as have India and Pakistan), the downslide in US-China ties has actually been precipitous, after President Trump altered his mind about Beijing’s bona fides although he preserved in the initial weeks of the pandemic that China was a good partner tha