Why Beijing didn’t shut down US consulate in Hong Kong
- Targeting US mission in the city would be a major escalation while China prefers to show restraint and not play into the hands of an increasingly hostile Washington
But while all consulates are equal, some are more equal than others. The Chinese consulate in Houston is smaller compared to the other prestige missions in San Francisco, New York and Chicago.
After the US embassy in Beijing, the American consulate in Hong Kong is generally considered the most important mission in China. Shutting it down would be a major escalation.
In 1999, Beijing reacted with restraint after the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade killed three Chinese journalists and injured more than a dozen, eventually receiving an official apology and multimillion-dollar compensations for the victims from the US.
Beijing has no wish to play into the often reckless, incoherent and aimless anti-China offensive launched by Donald Trump and his top diplomat Mike Pompeo. For the secretary of state, there is a strong ideological motive, though one shouldn’t discount political opportunism. For the president, it’s a transparent attempt to boost his chances at re-election.
Until March, when the Covid-19 pandemic started spreading in the US, Trump liked to praise President Xi Jinping and the Chinese handling of the health crisis. He even tried to solicit Xi’s help with his re-election campaign, according to a book by his former national security adviser John Bolton.
Since then, he has seen benefits in taking a hard line on China as to win political capital from his own Republican Party and silence his critics. His measures, though, are often pointless and counterproductive. Shutting down the Chinese consulate in Houston had always meant sacrificing a US mission in China, as Beijing had no choice but to retaliate.
China has been wise to respond when it must, but to show restraint when it can.
