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(Chengdu) China took possession of the United States consulate in Chengdu on Monday shortly after the abrupt departure of the last American officials after a diplomatic episode evocative of the Cold War.
Published on 26 July 2020 at 6 a.m. 37 Updated at 7 a.m. 37
Leo RAMIREZ and Noel CELIS
France Media Agency
Chengdu vs. Houston: the Americans had three days to evacuate their consulate, just as they had given the Chinese three days last week to leave their diplomatic mission in the Texan metropolis.
Symbolically, the star-spangled banner was lowered at dawn inside the consular complex of Chengdu, a giant city of 14, 5 million inhabitants.
A video released by the United States Embassy in China shows members of the elite Marine Corps carefully folding the flag and then solemnly handing it over to the Consul Jim Mullinax, looking serious alongside his staff.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the closure of the consulate at 07 H (19 am Sunday EDT) and indicated that China then “took possession” of the building.
However, Beijing protested after US agents entered its Houston consulate on Friday after the departure of Chinese officials.
This building is “a national property of China”, Chinese diplomacy said, referring to the Vienna convention on consular relations.
In Chengdu, six Chinese officials entered the building after the Americans left, according to official media images.
A canvas was affixed to a wall outside the diplomatic compound to hide the inscription “Consulate General of the United States of America “.
One month to leave
Diplomats attached to the consulate and their families will leave China by 27 August, reported to the AFP a spokesperson for American diplomacy.
“Today we bid farewell to the United States Consulate in Chengdu. We will miss you forever, ”the US Embassy in Beijing commented on Weibo social media.
“We will nostalgically remember the people of southwest China and all the friendships we have established,” the consul said in a statement. separate release.
Inaugurated in 944, the Chengdu consulate on Friday became the last subject in a long list of disputes between Beijing and Washington, when China ordered its closure.
The move is the response of the Communist government to the forced closure of its Houston consulate, ordered by the Trump administration.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured Thursday that the Chinese mission in the city of Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States, was a “hub espionage and theft of intellectual property ”.
“Some employees of the United States Consulate in Chengdu engaged in activities beyond their remit, they interfered in the internal affairs of the China and have endangered security and Chinese interests, ”accused Chinese diplomacy in response.
Banner confiscated 89184577
These mutual reprisals take place in a context of deterioration of Sino-American relations, the bones of contention having multiplied in recent months: repression in Hong Kong with the entry into force of a controversial security law, COVID pandemic – 019 and tensions in the South China Sea in particular.
On the eve of its closure, the Chengdu consulate was an attraction for locals on Sunday.
Despite the heat, an endless stream of curious people came to be photographed in front of the building. Some waved a Chinese flag, AFP journalists noted.
The security forces did not tolerate any provocative gesture or too obvious sign of joy at the departure of the Americans.
A young man screaming “I'm Chinese! Go China! Was thus evacuated by two police officers. AFP journalists also saw a banner confiscated by security.
Some foreign reporters wiped names of birds.
In addition to its embassy in Beijing, the United States now has four consulates in mainland China (Canton, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan) as well as one in Hong Kong – autonomous territory shaken last year by monster demonstrations against the central power.
Beijing then accused Washington of encouraging the unrest.