The United States has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston in a dramatic escalation of diplomatic tensions between the feuding superpowers. “China urges the US to immediately withdraw its wrong decision, or China will definitely take a proper and necessary response,” Wang said at a press briefing. The US has an embassy in Beijing, plus five consulates in mainland China and one in Hong Kong. The order to close the Houston consulate came the same day that the US Justice Department indicted two Chinese nationals for seeking to steal coronavirus vaccine research. The US has also downgraded relations with Hong Kong after China implemented a new security law which Washington says is in violation of Beijing’s promises of autonomy for the territory.

Source: Punch July 22, 2020 10:18 UTC