US shutting China’s Houston consulate aimed at reducing Beijing’s espionage

Washington: The shutting down of the Chinese consulate in Houston indicates that the US is likely making it an example in order to achieve its goal of a reduction in Beijing’s espionage activities without taking even harsher measures, such as shuttering its San Francisco or New York consulates, Axios reported.

“San Francisco is the real gem but the US will not close it,” a former American intelligence official told Axios.

Last week, the US asked China to close its Houston consulate to “protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said in a statement. In a tit-for-tat response, Beijing ordered the shutting down of the US consulate in Chengdu.

The Chengdu consulate primarily served as a visa-issuing office for the Chinese intending to visit the US and was not a major hub for US intelligence activity. However, the Houston consulate was not “China’s most important hub”.

The developments come at a time when ties between the world’s two largest economies are at an all-time low over a number of issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which Washington blames Beijing for its mishandling of the crisis and allowing the virus to spread across the world.

A Chinese fugitive researcher, who had been hiding in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco following visa fraud allegations is now in US custody, senior US government officials said last week, adding that Beijing is using its diplomatic missions to run an espionage network to steal intellectual property from American universities, research centres and businesses.

Source: ANI