The US government has accused China of espionage and visa fraud and has ordered the Houston Consulate to close down within 72 hours. The announcement comes amid the rising tensions between the two countries whose relationship has been rapidly deteriorating.
US-China tensions
According to the Wall Street Journal, on Wednesday, US officials stated that the Houston Consulate of China has long been a focus of rising concerns for the country. They announced it had until 4:00 p.m. Friday to close down voluntarily.
David Stilwell, the assistant secretary of state, was responsible for calling the order during an interview and said it had been long overdue. Stilwell stated the order followed several malicious activities conducted by the consulate, including research theft and visa fraud.
The secretary also noted that the illegal activities have since accelerated amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry first acknowledge the shutdown order after a Houston news media reported several people setting documents on fire within the building in what is considered to be an attempt at preparing to vacate the agency. A spokesman for the ministry called the order outrageous and threatened that Beijing would surely retaliate.
In recent years, the relationship between the US and China has slowly but steadily been dwindling, and Trump's administration has increased its aggression towards Beijing in the past few weeks. The US president issued visa bans and sanctioned several Chinese nationals over several international issues.
Similarly, in 2017, Trump's administration ordered the Russian Consulate in San Francisco to close down along with two annexes found near New York and Washington. The announcement was made in retaliation for Russian restricting several American diplomats residing in Moscow, as reported by The New York Times.
Replying to questions of if he plans on closing down other Chinese diplomatic missions, Trump said there was always that possibility and that his administration believed there was a fire within the one they ordered closed.
Also Read: US Officials Accuse 2 Chinese Hackers of Conspiring With Beijing to Steal Coronavirus Research Data
Espionage and research theft
Stilwell noted one of the factors that led to the order was due to a recent incident where a Chinese diplomat conspired with Air China Ltd. to bring unidentified passengers that aimed to bring Chinese students away from Houston amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Stephen Biegun, the deputy secretary of state, cited on Wednesday commercial espionage and stealing of trade secrets and research information from the US as parts of the issues that haunt the country's relationship with China.
According to CNN, the shutdown order comes a day after the US government accused two Chinese hackers of stealing coronavirus research information and giving it to China.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, called the accusations absurd and considered it a "thief accusing others to be the thief," during a Wednesday press briefing and alleged the US had been part of the largest cyberattacks around the world.
US officials stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) investigations into espionage accusations have frequently led back to China's Houston Consulate. A former agent said that for years, the FBI had monitored individuals believed to have been intelligence officers working for the Houston consulate.
