Beijing: A day after the US has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, China may ask for a closure of the US consulate in the central city of Wuhan, a reliable source said on Wednesday.
Though there is no official statement from China's foreign ministry so far, a media briefing from the ministry pointed out the possibility of counterstroke to US decisions.
Beijing denounced the US's order on Wednesday as outrageous and said it would draw a firm response if not reversed.
However, the US order over China consulate escalated tensions between the world’s largest economies as President Donald Trump ramps up punitive measures against China ahead of the US election in November.
Read | US asks China to close its Consulate General in Houston in 72 hours
The physical closure of the China's consulate in Houston, one of China's six missions in the United States, marked a dramatic step in increasingly contentious relations that have been strained not only by the coronavirus pandemic but disputes over trade, human rights, Hong Kong and Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Previous Trump administration measures against Chinese officials, students and researchers have included travel bans, registration requirements and other steps intended to reduce the country's footprint in the United States. The administration has also announced its outright rejection of virtually all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea.
These actions have come as Trump has sought to blame China for the coronavirus outbreak in the US, where cases have soared, threatening his prospects for reelection. Trump himself said more closures could be coming if China doesn't change its behavior. “It’s always possible,” he told reporters at the White House.
The State Department said it ordered the consulate closed within 72 hours after alleging that Chinese agents have tried to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system statewide and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
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There were indications consulate staff were preparing to leave: Papers were being burned on the consulate grounds late Tuesday night — a common practice when a diplomatic post is being shuttered on short notice.
Cai Wei, the Chinese consul general, told KTRK-TV in Houston the order to shut down was quite wrong and very damaging to US-China relations.
Asked about accusations of espionage and stealing data, Cai said, “You have to give some evidence, say something from the facts. ... Knowing Americans, you have the rule of law, you are not guilty until you are proved guilty.”
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that the closure was to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information.
“The United States will not tolerate China's violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated China's unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior," she said.
Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun lamented that relations today are weighed down by a growing number of disputes, including commercial espionage, intellectual property theft and unequal treatment of diplomats, businesses and journalists.
Those factors led to Trump's action, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Department of Justice on Tuesday had announced the indictments of two Chinese hackers on charges of trying to steal pharmaceutical secrets from U.S. companies related to the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in China. Although there was no indication the indictments and the consulate action were related, the US has long alleged China is involved in nefarious activity around the country, including from its Houston consulate.
Even before the U.S. announced the closure, which was conveyed privately to the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday, China strongly condemned it.
(Inputs from AP)
