U.S. gives China 72 hours to shut Houston consulate as spying charges mount

The location is 3 blocks south of Westheimer on Monstrose, next to Griff's for people familiar with Houston.

How many days/hours before The US Consulate in Wuhan is closed? Tit-for-tat.

Overnight in Houston, firefighters went to the consulate after smoke was seen. Two U.S. government officials said they had information that documents were being burned there.

Is it a normal response to start burning paper, having had an order to leave?

Very suspect...

Thefu,Houston will be flooded again, maybe they are getting out, before Houston, will be under water by Saturday

It sounds like part of declaration of war.

Is it a normal response to start burning paper, having had an order to leave?

Very suspect...

It's highly unusual, but it's also a response to the US recently opening two Chinese diplomatic/consular bags which is itself highly unusual a violation of international norms. Like it or not every major country uses its diplomatic missions as a base for spying on the host country. The Chinese probably decided that since diplomatic bags were no longer reliably secure, burning any incriminating documents was the safest option.

@M3M3M3

Do you have a link to the diplomatic bac opening?

@kurisupisu

Do you have a link to the diplomatic bac opening?

It's actually mentioned in the last paragraph of the article, but here is the official statement from the Chinese. So far the US has not confirmed or denied.

Pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, China provides convenience for US diplomatic missions and personnel in China. However, the US has imposed restrictions on Chinese diplomatic personnel in the US twice without cause, in last October and this June respectively. It opened without permission Chinese diplomatic pouches multiple times, and seized Chinese items for official use.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/t1799871.shtml

Why is America constantly destroying world peace?

The appeasement days of CCP have finally ended, sorry it has taken until the last couple of years to actually start to hold them accountable.

Closing Wuhan as a retaliatory act sounds like a comedic skit.

While i have no doubt China is spying etc, hell I have been writing how students since the 80s have been taking tech from Unis etc

That said trump needs to come up with some real SOLID evidence for this closing or he is just going to be called on doing this for the fall election, which my gut says in the most likely reason.....we will hopefully see soon!

Trumpies accuse China of __ in order to gin up an anger that he thinks will help his reelection.

Am I missing anything important here?

Well done USA on kicking these Communist spies out. Why not every Chinese Embassy nationwide now? Furthermore, it is time to order all US companies to withdraw from manufacturing and doing business in Communist China. GM, Apple, Microsoft, Boeing etc all need to exit China. Likewise, Japanese govt should withdraw all Japanese corporations from China.

The time is up for Communist China. Anyone still doing business there had better start packing up NOW.

This is a strange story. So they're going to close down the one Chinese consulate in Houston but leave all of the other ones in the U.S. open for business. Won't the spy network just jump into another hole like whack-a-mole?

I smell a diversion.....

Is some other former "Greatest and Best" or relative about to come out with a book with more salacious revelations? Maybe Tiffany?

Is someone going to leak those tax returns listing all those Russian loans?

Is there another porn star out there who will admit to getting a payoff?

Truth be told, it's probably something much worse...

Another example of how you could not make up this crap if you tried! Trump goes after China to help him get elected while he does “nothing” to stop the Russians who are actually meddling in our elections because he believes that Putin will help him again.

Pretty disgusting!

The timing and uselessness of this is just please his stupid, xenophobic base.

This is the first attempt by America to shut down a Chinese diplomatic mission in over 20 years. Before this it was the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999.

The timing and uselessness of this is just please his stupid, xenophobic base.

I am very glad you said that, this is the reason why most Americans trust Trump on China more than Biden because he doesn’t care and thank God he’s the only President to stand up to them. Even Schumer praises Trump on going after China. Biden would just continue the old traditional relationship of China ripping off the US as long as their pockets are aligned with Green, who cares? And if they’re using the Consulate to spy and steal intellectual property, I think you would want to kick these people out. We definitely has every reason to be xenophobic about it, especially when the feds uncover that they have been engaged in stealing vital information from the US. For me they can’t pack up fast enough.

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/joe-bidens-attempt-out-hawk-gop-china-futile

I am very glad you said that, this is the reason why most Americans trust Trump on China more than Biden

It's better to stop right there, Biden didn't take both knees to Xi, begging for election support.

trump is the most compromised president in American history , his actions a just a diversion to his dismal failures on the coronavirus and racial equality fronts!!!

It's better to stop right there, Biden didn't take both knees to Xi, begging for election support.

Stop right there. There is zero proof that he said that.

trump is the most compromised president in American history , his actions a just a diversion to his dismal failures on the coronavirus and racial equality fronts!!!

Yes, liberals continue to say that. How about a new talking point not repeated in the past.

Stop right there. There is zero proof that he said that.

Oh there is, plenty of it!!!

How about a new talking point not repeated in the past.

How about accepting trump's failures, then we can start discussing new things.

trump is the most compromised president in American history , his actions a just a diversion to his dismal failures on the coronavirus and racial equality fronts!!!

Yes, liberals continue to say that.

The polls continue to say he has performed badly on coronavirus and racial equality issues - even the polls favorable to Trump.

Nothing to do with liberals.

Which nation would I choose to be in, China or the US?

It’s a no-brainer!

I read the Chinese statement from the CCP mouthpiece and it is full of lies.

Part of that narrative is that it is normal to have mass document bonfires.

Yes, the US is full of problems but I have yet to meet ANYONE wishing to flee to China!

I have met Uighurs and Han Chinese here in Japan-most of them attempt to become resident asap!

The reasons are obvious...

Oh there is, plenty of it!!!

Such as?

How about accepting trump's failures, then we can start discussing new things.

By deflecting Democrat failure, that would be politically dishonest.

Wang said the U.S. government had been harassing Chinese diplomats and consular staff for some time and intimidating Chinese students. He said the United States had interfered with China's diplomatic missions, including intercepting diplomatic pouches. 

Do something instead of just talking, otherwise u become laughing stock of the world.

Such as?

I am sure the uneducated ones can read!!!

By deflecting Democrat failure, that would be politically dishonest.

Hate to point it out, Democrats will rule from January 2021!,,

Hate to point it out, Democrats will rule from January 2021!,,

At this rate, I doubt it. But keep rioting and destroying, it all makes it easier for Trump to slide into a second term.

"Besides their own government and military spies, the Chinese recruit many of their Chinese citizens to spy for them, even university students studying in America. They cannot say no because Chinese are not a free country. In fact, the only freedom they seem to have on the Internet is talking bad about other free countries. If they said anything bad about their own leaders they would be in hot water.

If China would stop stealing intellectual property and use that money to do their own R&D they might gain a tad of the free world's respect. I guess it is easier to steal it than to work to create it themselves.

Since the Chinese Communist genie were let out of the bottle by the US in 1972, it has created so much disasters inside and outside China. Despite this incident is considered Trump's desperate attempt to lift his rating in the coming election, I fully welcome this development as China's expansion and global threat to human rights and world peace must be stopped before too late. I wish that in case whoever win the next election, they should continue this epic endeavour for the betterment of the US and the world. I hope that Trump will be long remembered for his heroic act.

At this rate, I doubt it.

At the rate trump is self-destructing I have no doubt.

But keep rioting and destroying, it all makes it easier for Trump to slide into a second term.

Keep attacking and killing innocents, it’s not just defeat trump is facing, a prison term is on the cards.

The enemy is China. Not Trump, not Biden.

The enemy is China. Not Trump, not Biden.

I could not agree with you more, OssanAmeria.

Without the solidarity of the free world and without the intervention by the US's government together with the American congress, people, and media, China would be able to use its economic power to divide, corrupt, and control the world.

Apparently there's a torture chamber within the building along with a body or two... wouldnt be surprised if the Chinese blow the Consulate up, on their departure in order to hide the evidence.

Apparently there's a torture chamber within the building along with a body or two...

You are confusing the Saudis with the Chinese.

The Chinese keep their torture within their country, they just kidnap or blackmail people into going back and then torture and kill them.

The Saudis are trump's best friends, so they are welcome to do all the torture they want..

@ulysses - sadly the Chinese pulled a page out of the Saudi book... people have gone to the Consulate, and not been seen again...so time will tell. (tick tock... won't though).

As for burning Consulate documents. I'd consider that standard practice for any consulate. Most are probably VISA requests from US citizens. US citizens require a VISA with a Chinese Consul page (it's a full page VISA sticker for mainland entry). For super secret documents, I'd expect they have a machine that turns paper in to talc, but the amount of paper to be destroyed would far surpass what a machine like that can handle.

Not allowing fire fighters into the Consul isn't strange either.

Thefu,Houston will be flooded again, maybe they are getting out, before Houston, will be under water by Saturday

People who don't live in Houston didn't get that joke. ;)

The streets of Houston routinely flood after any good rain. Heck, I-10 floods and there are always people who attempt to drive through 3-5 ft of I-10 water .... they don't make it. Where I worked, JSC-Bldg 30S, the only things that didn't flood with 2-4 inches of water was the grass. The buildings were built raised 2-5 feet. The streets, parking, sidewalks all flooded. That's life on a bayou - lots of floods. That's how nature does it.

Apparently the US cleared out their HK embassy documents last week... without the need to contribute to Global Warming.

"This is the first attempt by America to shut down a Chinese diplomatic mission in over 20 years. Before this it was the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999."

The Chinese had taken pieces of the F-117 the Serbs shot down to their embassy and were likely planning to send them to China for analysis. The Chinese tried playing the game but were caught and paid a price for it. My heart bleeds. They had it coming.

"Why not every Chinese Embassy nationwide now? "

US and Chinese consulates in each other's countries are unofficially paired. It just so happens that the US Consulate in Wuhan is paired with the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The US Consulate in Wuhan is currently empty. Apparently the US is planning on it remaining empty indefinitely. Closing all consulates and embassies sounds attractive but is a two edged sword. The US desires to have CIA Case Officers operating under diplomatic cover in China for obvious reasons. Closing consulates and restricting US diplomats to the Embassy in Beijing would make it vastly more difficult to conduct espionage across someplace as enormous as China.

"If China would stop stealing intellectual property and use that money to do their own R&D they might gain a tad of the free world's respect. I guess it is easier to steal it than to work to create it themselves."

China doesn't have the cadre of experienced senior engineers, product developers and scientists, the people who have had decades of experience bringing products to market and who can teach young inexperienced engineers the ropes and not make as many mistakes as they made while bring world class products to market. Mao's Red Guards killed or ran off anyone in China with any kind of education during the Cultural Revolution. This is near and dear to me as it affected my own family. As a result China doesn't have the skills to compete with the best corporations of Asia, the Americas and Europe. To catch up they rely on stealing other nation's knowledge. Mao and the Communists destroyed all that was good in China and left it morally empty. All that is left today is a naked scramble for money and power. There are no moral restraints, no sense of honor. Anything goes as long as one doesn't challenge the CCP. Bribery (the "Red Envelope") and patronage are king. It is as corrupt as any Latin American nation you can imagine.