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US Chengdu consulate races to meet Monday closure deadline as Chinese social media users target diplomat’s wife
- Crowds continued to gather outside the diplomatic compound on Sunday as staff scrambled to wind up their operations
- Taiwanese-born wife of US consul-general is bombarded with angry messages and threats on Weibo, where she had more than half a million followers
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Crowds gathered outside the US consulate compound in downtown Chengdu on Sunday as US personnel hurried to evacuate the premises before Monday morning’s deadline for its closure.
There was a festive atmosphere outside the facility on the tree-lined street on a hot afternoon as onlookers stood alongside dozens of uniformed and plain clothes police opposite the entrance, according to Reuters. Onlookers took photos and videos as the police asked the crowd to move on.
The Chinese government gave the consulate 72 hours to close, according to Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the government-backed tabloid Global Times.
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On Friday he tweeted that Beijing had delivered the official notice at 10am that day, meaning the consulate must close by 10am Monday local time.
03:08
China orders US consulate in Chengdu to close in tit-for-tat response to Washington
China orders US consulate in Chengdu to close in tit-for-tat response to Washington
Beijing had ordered the Chengdu consulate to close in retaliation for Washington’s move to shut the Chinese consulate in Houston.
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