to US lose second Consulate in China. Their decision to abandon diplomatic mission in Wuhan, in order to avoid a response to the closure of the Chinese Consulate in Houston has not justified itself: in China, announced the expulsion of American diplomats from Chengdu. The deterioration in us-Chinese relations are developing according to the same scheme, that relations between Washington and Moscow. Experts believe that the world is on the brink of a new cold war.
The Ministry of foreign Affairs of China decided to revoke the license of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu, reported on the website of the Chinese foreign Ministry.
The Agency notified the U.S. Embassy in China about this decision and demands an end to all the activities of the American Consulate General. The report stresses that these measures are “necessary response” to the actions of the American side.
“The current situation in relations between China and the United States is that China does not want to see, and the responsibility for it lies entirely on the United States,” — said the foreign Minister of the PRC.
Thus, States lose second Consulate in China in the last few days.
Earlier it became known that the US authorities refused to open a Consulate in Wuhan, which ceased its work in late January due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
As reported by the Agency Associated Press with reference to sources in the presidential administration of the USA of Donald trump, Washington hoped that the refusal of the resumption of the Consulate in Wuhan can soften the reaction of Beijing to the decision of the U.S. Consulate in Houston.
Officially, the requirement of the American authorities was sent back on July 21. The official representative the Ministry of foreign Affairs of China Wang Wenbin called the Washington’s move as a political provocation.
According to him, the decision to close the Embassy violates international law and basic norms of international relations, since the United States decided unilaterally. “China strongly condemns this outrageous and unjustified step that would undermine the relations between China and the United States,” said Wang Wenbin.
The head a press-services of US state Department Morgan Ortagus explained that
the decision to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston adopted “in order to protect American intellectual property and personal data of Americans”.
Probably, these accusations could have some basis. This is indicated by the fact that shortly before the information about the closure of the Chinese Consulate became known to the General public, on site, a fire broke out.
As reported by the Fox News channel, the police suggest that the fire is due to the fact that in the courtyard of the Embassy were burned documents. It is noteworthy that when on a scene there arrived firefighters and police officers, they ��ylo denied access to the territory.
However, whatever the reason, the decision to close the Consulate General in Houston lowered the bar of American-Chinese relations to the level below. As noted in conversation with “Газетой.Ru” the head of the Center for Asia-Pacific studies, IMEMO ran Alexander LOMANOV, this solution lowers bilateral relations to the lowest point in the last 40 years.
“We very rarely see such moments in history when attitudes become worse literally by the day, says this situation LOMANOV. —
the Closure of the Consulate is just the nail in the coffin of the once-thriving former and very constructive relationship”.
In the relations of the parties lately have really been marked by several pain points. It is a question of origin, coronavirus COVID-19, and the situation with human rights in Hong Kong, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region and other Chinese regions, the participation of Huawei in projects on the European market, etc.
According to him, almost every day on the American side followed the attacks, statements, decisions are made, which in the eyes destroy all that has been accumulated in us-China relations over the past 40 years. In a sense, the closing of the Houston Consulate can even be considered symbolic, as it was the first Chinese Consulate in USA, which opened in 1979, the year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Deputy Director of the Center for comprehensive European and international studies, NRU HSE Dmitry Suslov in conversation with “Газетой.Ru” also notes that the current events represent a natural deepening of the us-Chinese confrontation, which is becoming more official, more open and more institutional.
the deterioration in us-Chinese relations largely follows the scenario of deteriorating relations between Washington and Moscow, which also recently passed the visa war, the consular war and the closure of diplomatic missions.
“I want to emphasize that this is a normal process, unfortunately, inevitable that will continue — that is making a confrontational relationship. We are at the beginning of a new “cold war” — that it becomes typical for such a situation elements”, — said the expert.
The closure of two American consulates in China and the Chinese Consulate in Houston will hit those aspects of bilateral relations, which degrade: humanitarian relations, travel and economic ties.
The United States is already pursuing a policy of economic breeding with China, economic uncoupling, in fact, the resolution of economic interdependence and transition of value chains to other countries, diverting them from China. Also from Washington you can see the effort to destroy the scientific and educational cooperation with China: the country is much less invite Chinese students, seeing them as a threat; deported from the United States, Chinese professors, demolish scientific and technical cooperation with China.
With fewer consular offices and the US and China will be more difficult to maintain and develop trade-economic, humanitarian, scientific and educational ties, but these ties and already crumbling purposefully.
As said Dmitry Suslov, current events fully comply with the policy pursued by the administration of the trump.
“And Yes, a smaller number of consular offices — will simply be physically less able to develop such cooperation, and the destruction of this cooperation, and without an instruments of United States policy toward China today,” — concludes the expert.
