China takes over US consulate at Chengdu in tit-for-tat retaliation for Houston
- Foreign ministry says closure is a ‘just and necessary response’ and confirms Chinese officials entered compound immediately
- American embassy in Beijing says goodbye to southwestern diplomatic outpost on social media
China on Monday took over the US consulate in Chengdu after ordering the facility to close in a tit-for-tat battle following last week’s forced closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.
Several Chinese officials in white shirts and masks arrived in a minibus at 10am and went in through the front entrance to take over the compound, according to videos from a local television network.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Beijing posted a farewell to the Chengdu facility on China’s Twitter-like Weibo. “Today, we say goodbye to the US consulate in Chengdu. We will miss you forever,” it said.
Beijing's decision to close to US consulate in Chengdu was a “just and necessary response” to the closure by the US of China’s consulate in Houston, said foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, who also confirmed that Chinese authorities had entered the compound on Monday morning as it closed.
“China’s decision to close the US's consulate in Chengdu and to take it over is a just and necessary response to the US's closing of China's consulate in Houston and forcefully entering the premises,” Wang said during a regular press briefing in Beijing on Monday afternoon.
“The current situation between China and the US is something we don't want to see, and the responsibility lies only on the US.”
Earlier, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the nationalistic tabloid Global Times, said the US’s withdrawal and closure of the Chengdu consulate complied with China’s requirements, and the takeover was civilised.