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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China’s decision to close US consulate in Chengdu likely driven by size, observers say

  • Beijing had to follow through on vow to retaliate for closure of its mission in Houston but also wanted to minimise the fallout, experts say
  • Mission in southwest China is America’s second youngest in the country and one of its smallest

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Beijing has ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu, which opened in 1985. Photo: AFP
Liu Zhen
The US consulate in Chengdu is not the largest of America’s six missions in the country and that may be the reason Beijing selected it for closure, according to observers.

As well as an embassy in Beijing, the US has five consulates in mainland China – the others being in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Shenyang.

Similarly, China has five consulates in the US and an embassy in Washington. The Houston mission, which the US ordered to close on Tuesday – handles consular affairs for the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas – is also one of its smallest.

The Chengdu consulate opened in 1985 – making it the second youngest after Wuhan, which opened in 2008. It has five departments and employs 130 people, 100 of whom were locally hired, according to its website.

Located in the capital of Sichuan province, the office manages all of the United States’ consular and diplomatic affairs in southwest China, which encompasses the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, Chongqing municipality and the Tibet autonomous region.

Beijing said the order to close the consulate was a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States”, after Washington on Tuesday told the Chinese consulate in Houston to shut within 72 hours. The clock runs out on Friday.

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