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China's Foreign Ministry said the US accuses the US consulate of espionage as "malicious slander" and warned it would respond.
"The US order to close the Consulate General in Houston violates international law and the basic rules of international relations, seriously damaging Sino-US relations," said China's Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wen Bin at a press conference in Beijing on July 22 Photo: B? Ngo?i giao Trung Qu?c
The statement was made by Wang after the US on July 21 requested that the Chinese Consulate General in Houston be closed within 72 hours to "protect American intellectual property and personal information".
The agency accused Chinese agents of trying to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the A&M health system in the state and MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston.
US Senator Marco Rubio, acting chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, also described the Chinese Consulate General in Houston as "the center of China's vast network of espionage and influence in the United States".
China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the allegation was unfounded.
China has previously called the US decision "unprecedented escalation", "unilateral political provocation", sabotaging bilateral relations and China will have the necessary response.
According to a South China Morning Post source, China may close the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, while another source said Beijing is considering closing the consulate in
Global Times editor Ho Tich Tien said the facility closure in Wuhan was not drastic enough because the United States withdrew its staff when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
"Even without closing the consulate, China can still cut 100-200 US diplomats. This will cause Washington a lot of damage," Ho Tich Tien said.
In another development, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation accused a Chinese researcher of being charged with visa fraud and hiding ties with the military currently hiding in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
"In the past, the United States has been ideologically biased by constantly monitoring, harassing and even arbitrarily arresting Chinese students and scholars in the US. We urge the United States to stop using all reasons to
