US will officially take military action against China in West Philippine Sea.

China do not belong to in South East Asia. China needs to be stopped. Enough is enough. 

US says it told China to close Houston consulate ‘to protect Americans’ private information’

• Beijing labels Washington’s demand as ‘unprecedented escalation’ and says it will retaliate
• Houston emergency services responded to reports of documents being burned in consulate courtyard on Tuesday night, according to media reports

Jun Mai in Beijing and Kinling Lo
Published: 3:57pm, 22 Jul, 2020

China vowed to retaliate in a dramatic
escalation of tensions after it was ordered by the United States
to close its consulate in Houston, a move Washington said was to protect Americans’ intellectual property and private information.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the US made the demand on Tuesday and described the move as an “unprecedented escalation”. He also said the Chinese embassy and consulates in the US had received bomb and death threats recently.

“China demands the US revoke this wrong decision. If the US goes ahead with it, China will take the necessary countermeasures,” Wang said.

The foreign ministry spokesman said Beijing had shown goodwill to US diplomats in China and had promoted China-US ties through its envoys in America.

“In contrast, the US put restrictions on Chinese diplomats in June and last October, respectively, with no valid reason. [The US] has seized and opened mail and official supplies,” Wang said.

“Due to the deliberate smearing and hatred-inciting moves from the US, Chinese delegations in the US have recently received bomb threats and death threats,” he said.

“The US embassy in Beijing has also frequently published articles attacking China. It should be clear who is intervening and infiltrating others’ domestic politics, and who initiated confrontations.

“The US claims there’s an imbalance in Sino-US relations. This is their usual excuse and it is without grounds. In fact, judging by the number of diplomats and diplomatic institutions delegated, the US has a much bigger number than China,” Wang said.

But US State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus said China was told to close the Houston consulate to “protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information”, without giving further details.

Earlier on Wednesday, US media reported that Houston police and fire officials had responded to reports of documents being burned in the courtyard of the Chinese consulate in the city on Tuesday night, citing its police department.

The Houston Police Department said it began receiving reports just after 8pm that documents were being burned at 3417 Montrose Boulevard, where the consulate is located, news website Click2Houston.com reported.

Beijing and Washington are now at odds on almost every front, ranging from engaging in a global blame game over the deadly
coronavirus to human rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang
. In the past few months, Beijing has expelled a dozen journalists representing US media while Washington has imposed new visa restrictions on Chinese nationals working as journalists in the US.

Ortagus said the US would not tolerate Chinese violations of its “sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated [China’s] unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behaviour”.

Wang’s remarks came after Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of state tabloid Global Times, said on Twitter that the US gave China 72 hours to close the consulate.

“This is a crazy move. The consulate general is the first Chinese CG in the United States. The US has not only asked to close it, but requested evacuation within three days. This is absolute madness. There is apparently no bottom line for some people in Washington. The current US administration is willing to do anything now,” Hu said.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dip...g-beijing-close-its-houston-consulate-we-will