Houston was the place where China established the first consulate in the US, but four decades later, it witnessed the unprecedented strong action of Washington.

In early 1979, just a few weeks after the US-China normalization of relations, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited the United States at the state level and wore a cowboy hat to watch horse racing in west Houston, Texas.

"The crowd whistled and clapped their hands in delight when Mr. Deng wore a cowboy hat. With a simple gesture, Mr. Deng didn't seem to end the 30 years of fierce confrontation between China and the US, but also open it.

After the visit of Mr. Dang, Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, became the first place the Chinese Consulate General in this country.

The Consulate General in Houston at that time was considered a "sweet fruit" for the warm US-China relationship.

China, which imports more than 70% of oil, has great commercial interests with Texas, one of the largest crude oil exporting states in the United States.

However, in recent years, Houston "stuck" in the increasingly strained relationship between the US and China.

The Chinese consulate in Houston last August issued a statement condemning Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team for a Twitter post in support of the protests in Hong Kong.

In recent months, the Houston consulate has shown goodwill by giving masks and medical supplies to local hospitals to deal with Covid-19.

However, more than four decades after Deng Xiaoping's historic trip, Houston is where Washington made a strong move with eroding relations between the two nations, when the Chinese consulate was requested to close here.

The Consulate in Houston has about 60 employees.

The US explained it closed the consulate to "protect American intellectual property and personal information".

David R. Stilwell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said the Houston consulate was the center of research theft in the United States.

NYTimes obtained a seven-page document compiled by US law enforcement officials, listing a number of FBI investigations involving consulates in Houston.

The Chinese embassy in Washington denied US allegations that they were baseless fabrications.

Chinese Consul General at Houston Taiwei said he was shocked by the US decision.

Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at Peking University in Beijing, emphasized that the US move has been unprecedented since the two countries established diplomatic relations.