According to the President of the United States, “closing additional diplomatic missions is always possible.”
The American administration does not rule out that it will decide to close some more Chinese diplomatic missions in the USA after the Consulate General in Houston (Texas). This was announced by US President Donald Trump at a press conference in the White House on Wednesday.
“As for the closure of additional embassies, it is always possible”, – said the head of the U.S. administration.
“You see what’s going on. We thought there was a fire in that [consulate general of China] which we closed. Everyone said: fire, fire. Apparently, they were burning documents, papers. I wish I knew what was going on there”, – Trump added. He was referring to reports from Houston that the Chinese Consulate General, after receiving an order from U.S. authorities to terminate the mission, began burning documents.
Washington on Tuesday demanded that Beijing close the Houston diplomatic mission within 72 hours. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this “unilateral US political provocation seriously violates the norms of international law and key principles of international relations, as well as the consular agreement” of the two countries. The Chinese authorities will take “decisive countermeasures” if the U.S. does not give up its demand, Wang Wenbin warned.
Chinese consulates in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles continue to operate in the US.