China orders U.S. to close consulate in Chengdu

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China orders U.S. to close consulate in Chengdu

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A Chinese paramilitary cop stands guard at the entryway to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan province on September 17, 2012.

Goh Chai Hin | AFP | Getty Images

China’s Foreign Ministry revealed Friday that it is withdrawing the license for the U.S. consulate general in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.

The ministry likewise bought the consulate basic to stop operations, according to an online declaration.

“The current situation between China and the U.S. is something the Chinese side does not want to see,” the foreign ministry stated in an online Chinese-language declaration, according to a CNBC translation.

“The responsibility lies entirely with the U.S. side,” the declaration included. “We again urge the U.S. side to immediately revoke its relevant wrong decisions, to create necessary conditions for the two countries’ relationship to return to normal.”

The Chengdu consular district covers the questionable self-governing area of Tibet, the town of Chongqing, and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, according to the consulate’s site.

The statement follows the U.S. bought China to close its consulate in Houston. U.S. State Department representative Morgan Ortagus stated the regulation to close China’s consulate general in Houston was made to secure American copyright and the personal info of its people. Beijing had actually condemned the choice and cautioned of company countermeasures.

During a CNBC “Street Signs Asia” interview previously on Friday, Eurasia Group’s Michael Hirson stated that “if they were to choose an important but still secondary consulate like Chengdu or Shenyang, that would be in keeping with the role that the Houston consulate serves.”

Hirson, who is practice head for China and Northeast Asia at Eurasia Group, described that targeting the consulates in Shanghai or Guangzhou “would be a notch above Houston.”

“If they were to close the Hong Kong consulate, that would be then thrusting this dispute into what’s already very serious impasse of course with the future of Hong Kong and Hong Kong’s autonomy,” he stated. “So I think that would be the most escalatory move in terms of closing the consulate.”

Mainland Chinese stocks led losses in the Asia Pacific area throughout Friday trade, as U.S.-China stress struck financier belief.

The Chengdu consulate, which was developed in 1985, is among 5 the U.S. has in mainland China, in addition to the embassy in Beijing.

About three-fourths of the approximately 200-individual Chengdu consulate personnel are Chinese, according to the consular site.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith and Yen Nee Lee added to this report.