Beijing will react if Washington request to close Houston consulate not revoked

Beijing will take just and necessary reactions if Washington does not immediately revoke its wrong decision of asking China to close its consulate in Houston, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday, calling the US move a unilateral political provocation against China.

On July 21, the US side abruptly requested the Chinese side to close its Consulate General in Houston. Such a move "seriously violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, seriously violates the bilateral consular agreement between China and the United States, and deliberately undermines Sino-US relations. It is outrageous and unjustified," Wang said.

"China urges the US side to immediately revoke the wrong decision, or China will definitely make legitimate and necessary reactions," said Wang.

For a period of time, the US government has repeatedly shifted blame to the Chinese side, stigmatized and attacked China, made unprovoked attacks on China's social system, and deliberately put obstacles in the way of Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in the United States. In the meantime, the US side has also intimidated, interrogated Chinese students studying in the United States, confiscated their personal electronic devices, and even detained them for no reason, noted Wang.

"The unilateral closure of China's Consulate General in Houston within a short period of time is an unprecedented escalation of its recent actions against China," said Wang.

"The Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States have always been committed to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American peoples," said Wang, noting that China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Infiltration and interference in other countries' internal affairs have never been the genes or traditions of China's diplomacy.

In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, China has facilitated the performance of duties of US diplomatic agencies and personnel in China, he said.

In contrast, the United States has imposed unwarranted restrictions on Chinese diplomats in the United States twice -- in October last year and June this year, and even opened Chinese diplomatic bags privately on many occasions, and seized Chinese official supplies, Wang noted.

Due to US recent wanton stigmatization and incitement to hatred toward the Chinese side, the Chinese Embassy in the United States has recently received bomb and death threats against Chinese diplomatic agencies and personnel in the United States. Moreover, the website of the US Embassy in China has often publicly published articles attacking China, Wang noted.

Wang said the facts are clear who are interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and who are engaging in infiltration and confrontation.

Wang said the US side claims that there is no reciprocity in the US-China relations, but this is just an old and meaningless excuse of the United States. He stressed that "in fact, in terms of the number of diplomatic and consular missions in each other's country and the number of diplomatic and consular personnel, the US side far exceeds China."

"We urge the US side to immediately withdraw this erroneous decision. Should it insist on going down this wrong path, China will react with firm countermeasures," Wang said.

Xinhua contributed to this story