Beijing / Chengdu: China told Somwar that it had taken over the building after the US Consulate General in Chengdu was vacated. China retaliated, following a US order to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, and ordered it to close the US Consulate General of Chengdu. “The US consulate in Chengdu was closed at 10 am on July 27,” according to a press release issued Monday by China’s foreign ministry. He said, “After this, the competent Chinese authorities entered the building from the main enclosure and took possession of the premises.” Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan Province.
Government broadcaster CCTV said on its social media account that the US flag was lifted from the US Consulate General in Chengdu at 6.18 am on Monday morning. Police has closed two to three blocks in the area around the Consulate General, due to which the premises can no longer be seen. Vehicles were seen moving from some distance behind several police lines. The US ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, alleging that the Consulate General of Houston had become a base for Chinese spies who tried to steal companies’ data in Texas. In a statement on Monday, the US State Department expressed disappointment over the closure of the Consulate General and said the embassy “has been the center of our relations with the people of western China, including Tibet, for the past 35 years.”
“We are disappointed with the decision of the Communist Party of China and will continue to try to reach the people of this important region through our other missions in China,” the statement said. Hong Kong’s ‘South China Morning Post’ reported that before 11 am, several cars, a white ambulance and dozens of Chinese employees were seen near the Chengdu Consulate General. Police have blocked the road and walkways in front of the consulate and put up barriers there. This consulate was started in 1985. It had 200 employees working, 150 of whom were local.
