The maneuver puts an end to the episode of sanctions mutual worthy of the cold war. Monday, 27 July, chinese officials have entered the compound of the U.s. consulate in Chengdu, shortly after the departure of the last employees of Washington. Very symbolically, the star-spangled banner of the United States had been lowered a little earlier inside the complex diplomatic, according to images of the chinese television. In contrast to the previous days, foreign journalists have not been allowed by police to approach the diplomatic representation.
In a brief statement, the chinese ministry of foreign Affairs has confirmed the closure of the consulate and reported that China had "taken possession" of the building at 10 a.m. local time. A little earlier, employees are left to foot the pregnant diplomatic. Some wore a bag on the back while others were pushing their bike to the hand. The day before, a bus with tinted windows, had left the enclosure, diplomatic, under the boos of a part of the public.
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Opened in 1985, the american consulate in Chengdu is now Friday, the last about a long list of disputes between Beijing and Washington, when China ordered the closure of the mission. This decision has been the response of the communist regime to the forced closure of its consulate in Houston in the United States by the administration Trump, on a background of accusations of espionage worthy of the cold war. Beijing had protested after the entry by force on Friday of american agents after the departure of the chinese officials. This building is a " national property of China ", was stressed by the chinese ministry of foreign Affairs, referring to the international law.
"a hub of espionage"
The us secretary of State Mike Pompeo has assured Thursday that the consulate of China in Houston, the fourth city in the United States, was a " hub of espionage and theft of intellectual property ". "Some employees of the U.s. consulate in Chengdu were engaged in activities out of their assignments, they interfered in the internal affairs of China, and have put in danger the security and interests of china ", has accused his side of china's public diplomacy. These reprisals mutual taking place in a context of degradation of sino-american relations, the apples of discord are being multiplied in recent months : repression in hong Kong with the entry into force of a controversial law on security, pandemic Covid-19, and tensions in the south China sea in particular.
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On the eve of its closure, the consulate in Chengdu was Sunday and an attraction for the inhabitants of the metropolis of the south-west of China. Under a blue sky and a sweltering heat, a constant stream of the curious came to be photographed in front of the building. Some were waving a chinese flag, have found journalists from the Agence France-Presse. A certain tension was palpable within the security forces, which have low tolerance for any gestures or confrontational, or sign of joy too manifest in the face of the departure of the Americans. A young man who was screaming " I am chinese ! Go China ! " has been removed from the premises by two police officers. Journalists of Agence France-Presse have also seen a banner confiscated by security. But one resident, however, able to deploy on her balcony a large chinese flag and shouting the name of his country. Some foreign reporters have been names of birds.
in Addition to its embassy in Beijing, the United States now has four consulates in mainland China (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan), as well as in hong Kong, an autonomous territory shaken last year by demonstrations against the central power. Beijing had then seen the hand of Washington behind these disorders. The nationalist chinese claimed last week the closure of the U.s. consulate in hong Kong.
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