State Department officials have vacated one of the seven major United States diplomatic facilities in China after Beijing ordered the closure in retaliation for the shuttering of the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
“Today, we say goodbye to the US consulate in Chengdu,” officials at the U.S. embassy in Beijing wrote in a social media post. “We will miss you forever.”
The closure of the American Consulate in Chengdu attracted thousands of observers over the weekend, as locals gathered to witness a symbolic demonstration of the worsening relationship between the U.S. and China. U.S officials also broadcast the lowering of the American flag at the consulate.
“I hereby officially retire our colors and present them to you,” the commander of the Marine Corps detachment said in a presentation to Consul General Jim Mullinax.
The diplomatic tit for tat took place as President Trump’s administration intensifies a crackdown on suspected Chinese intelligence operations in the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the closure of the Houston Consulate as Justice Department officials unveiled a wave of indictments that accused Chinese researchers at American universities of hiding their ties to the People’s Liberation Army — a scheme that consulate officials have helped orchestrate, according to U.S. officials.
“I think most people are just curious,” one observer, Xu Junqing, said of the crowd that turned out for the closing. “But I think it will reopen again because, if China and the U.S. stop cooperation, there’s no good to the whole world.”
