Slow Burn
Vídeo of Chinese officials burning documents at Houston consulate.
The U.S. on Tuesday ordered the Chinese Consulate in Houston to close within 72 hours, citing “massive illegal spying and influence operations” conducted by the People’s Republic.
Neighboring residents subsequently called Houston firefighters after consulate workers apparently began burning documents in the courtyard of the compound as they rushed to get rid of any evidence. Firefighters were unable to intervene because by international law, diplomatic properties are territory of the countries that operate them.
A top US diplomat said on Wednesday that China’s Houston consulate was the “epicentre” of efforts by the Chinese military to send students to the U.S. to obtain information to advance its warfare capabilities. We detailed here how China does that.
David Stilwell, the top East Asia official at the State Department, also accused China’s consul general in Houston and other diplomats there of having recently engaged in “questionable activity” at Houston’s international airport, where they were escorting Chinese citizens onto a chartered flight to China. Air China was holding paperwork with incorrect birth dates for its diplomats. In other words, China was getting its spies out with false paperwork.
The move comes less than a day after the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing a pair of Chinese government-affiliated hackers of trying to steal COVID-19 research from U.S. companies.
Addressing the consulate’s closure during his tour of Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the Trump administration was setting out “clear expectations for how the Chinese Communist Party is going to behave”.
“And when they don’t, we’re going to take actions that protect the American people, protect our security, our national security, and also protect our economy and jobs,” said Pompeo, speaking in Denmark. He is scheduled to deliver an address on Thursday in California on “Communist China and the future of the free world,” the fourth speech in a month from a top US official criticizing Beijing for its actions and global ambitions.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin slammed the order to shut the consulate, and urged the U.S. to reverse its decision, “otherwise China will certainly make legitimate and necessary reactions.”