US orders China consulate in Houston to close after coronavirus vaccine hacking charges

State Department said closure would protect US intellectual property, amid increasing tensions over trade and technology

The United States has ordered the closure of China’s consulate in Houston, escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies as Donald Trump ramps up pressure against the country ahead of the November election.

The closure marked a dramatic step in increasingly contentious relations that have been strained not only by the conronavirus pandemic but disputes over trade, human rights, Hong Kong and Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.

The decision comes less than 24 hours after US prosecutors charged two Chinese hackers over attempts to steal US research on Covid-19 vaccines.

The State Department said it ordered the consulate to be closed within 72 hours after alleging that Chinese agents have tried to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system statewide and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston.

Morgan Ortagus, a spokesperson for the State Department, said: “We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and American’s private information.”

China said on Wednesday the consulate’s closure is “an unprecedented escalation”, and that it would retaliate without US revocation.

China is now considering ordering the closure of the US consulate in Wuhan, according to a source. The US has four other Chinese consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenyang – in addition to its Beijing embassy.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the consulate would continue to operate as normal.

Papers were being burnt on the consulate grounds late on Tuesday night, a common practice when a diplomatic post is being shuttered on short notice.

Houston police officers responded to call at the Chinese consulate building, where smoke was observed in an outdoor courtyard area. Officers were not allowed to enter the building.

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, added Mr Wang.

“We urge the US to immediately revoke this erroneous decision. Should it insist on going down this wrong path, China will react with firm countermeasures,” he said.

Mr Wang also accused the US government of harassing Chinese diplomats and consular staff, as well as “intimidating and interrogating Chinese students and confiscating their personal electrical devices, even detaining them”.

Additional reporting by Associated Press