As Ties get worsening, US gave China 72 hrs deadline to shut down the Houston Consulate and also Trump hinted that other closures are possible.
The ties between two major economies in the world – the United States and China have worsened sharply this year over the burning issue of coronavirus.
Before, the coronavirus, the differences reached the peak stage related to Chinese trade policies. But the two country heads tried to sort out the trade war escalations through a dialogue. The first round of talks was held in this direction. But the sudden evolution of Coronavirus has slammed the trade discussions.
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China’s Houston consulate was ordered to shut on the grounds of massive spying which is a threat to the integrity and security for the US. The issue came into limelight when a fire broke out in the Houston consulate yesterday. The fire at the Chinese consulate took place after the US ordered them to evacuate. The fire department has noticed that documents were burnt hugely which they suspect as related to important information related to the US and its citizens.
Immediately on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said the Chinese mission in Houston was being closed
to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information.
Reacting to the US orders, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the consulate was operating normally. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has not responded to the latest developments.
But, many of the political experts feel that even the Chinese may react in the same manner and go for retaliation. The US Consulate in the Wuhan may be the target for the Chinese government. If the US continues to show cause notices for the shut down to some Chinese consulates, then the US consulates in Hong Kong, Taiwan and some of the other business-related US consulates may be targetted by the communist party of China.