US consulate: China orders US consulate closure in tit-for-tat move
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US decision was taken because China was"stealing" intellectual property.The closure was a"legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions taken by the United States", China's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The US consulate in Chengdu, which was established in 1985 and currently has more than 200 members of staff, is strategically important because of its proximity to Tibet, correspondents say.Earlier this week, the US government informed China that it had by the end of the week to close its consulate in Houston, Texas.
"We are setting out clear expectations for how the Chinese Communist Party is going to behave. And when they don't, we're going to take actions," he said. China reacted with anger, with its foreign ministry spokeswoman saying the reasons given by the US for closing the consulate were"unbelievably ridiculous".
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