Outside the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, China, on Thursday.
Photo: Bloomberg/Bloomberg NewsHONG KONG—Beijing ordered the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, retaliating against Washington’s decision to shut down the Chinese consulate in Houston.
The decision adds to the deterioration of ties between the world’s two largest economies, which have clashed over trade, technology, handling of the coronavirus epidemic and global influence.
In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it informed the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Friday morning of China’s demand for the Chengdu consulate to cease all operations and activities. It wasn’t specific about a time frame for the requested shutdown.
Beijing set a 72-hour limit for the Chengdu consulate to shut down, the same amount of time Washington gave Chinese diplomats to vacate the Houston consulate, according to people briefed on the matter. U.S. diplomats at the Chengdu consulate were given 30 days to leave China, the people said.
The Foreign Ministry said China’s decision is a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable behavior of the U.S.,” citing Washington’s Tuesday demand for the abrupt shutdown of the Chinese Consulate in Houston, according to the statement published on the ministry’s website.
“The emergence of the current situation between China and the U.S. is something that China doesn’t wish to see and the U.S. bears all responsibility,” the ministry said. “We again urge the U.S. to immediately rescind the relevant erroneous decision and create the necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track.”
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Consulate in Chengdu tracks developments in China’s Tibet region, where simmering separatist sentiment has been among the most politically sensitive issues for Beijing. Its area of responsibility also includes the nearby megacity of Chongqing and the ethnically diverse provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, of which Chengdu is the capital.
Opened in 1985 by then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, the Chengdu consulate offers U.S. citizen and visa services and promotes cooperation in agriculture, trade and education, in addition to other matters. It normally has about 200 staff, including around 150 locally hired Chinese employees, according to its website.
Most American staffers were ordered to leave the consulate earlier this year after the coronavirus pandemic broke out in China. About 160 staffers, including around 15 U.S. diplomats, have remained in the outpost, according to people familiar with the situation.
The U.S. has seven diplomatic missions in China, including the embassy in Beijing and consulates in five mainland Chinese cities—including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Wuhan—and in Hong Kong.
Ahead of Beijing’s announcement on Friday, American diplomats stationed across China have been making preparations for the possibility that their mission would be targeted by Beijing for retaliation, people familiar with the matter have said.
In February 2012, the Chengdu consulate became the scene of political intrigue when a former Chinese police chief holed himself up in the consulate for 30 hours as he offered American diplomats what he said was information implicating the wife of a powerful Communist Party official in a murder case.
That incident kicked off months of political drama that derailed the fast-rising career of Bo Xilai, the party chief of Chongqing who was seen as a contender for higher office. He was later sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and abuse of power. Mr. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted of murder, while the ex-police chief, Wang Lijun, was also jailed.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the State Department had ordered it to shut down its consulate in Houston on Tuesday, the same day the U.S. indicted two Chinese nationals for allegedly hacking American firms involved in coronavirus research. Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell said the order to close the Houston consulate was “long overdue” following several instances of visa fraud and research theft.
Beijing denounced the move—accusing the U.S. of multiple breaches of diplomatic rules—and promised retaliation.
Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com and Liza Lin at Liza.Lin@wsj.com
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