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
As well as an embassy in Beijing, the US has five consulates in mainland China – the others being in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Shenyang.
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.
Beijing most likely chose Chengdu because of its smaller size, so that it could make a point without adding too much fuel to the fire burning between the two countries, observers said.
03:08
China orders US consulate in Chengdu to close in tit-for-tat response to Washington
The region covered by the mission is also home to fewer US businesses and citizens than most of America’s other consulates in China.
“The Chinese side is still trying not to escalate the tension too rapidly,” said Li Haidong, a professor of international relations at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
Although China’s southwestern provinces are less economically developed than other parts of the country they still have great political significance.
02:23
China calls US order to close Houston consulate ‘political provocation’
Almost all of China’s ethnic Tibetans live in the region and the consulate is the closest Washington has to a mission in Lhasa. Beijing has repeatedly turned down US requests to open a consulate in the Tibetan capital.
In 2013, the consulate in Chengdu was one of the overseas missions revealed by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden as having surveillance facilities. Beijing protested and demanded an explanation.
That set off China’s biggest political crisis in decades, leading to the imprisonment of Wang, Bo and the latter’s wife, Gu Kailai, on a range of charges, including corruption and abuse of power.
