US lowers flag over consulate in Chengdu, China

The U.S. consulate in Chengdu, China, lowered its American flag early Monday ahead of the expulsion of its staff from the country.

AFP and The Associated Press reported that the flag was lowered just after 6 a.m. as police cordoned off several blocks around the facility. China’s government moved Friday to order the consulate closed in retaliation for the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, which the Trump administration has alleged was spying on U.S. institutions.

Moving trucks reportedly arrived at the facility in Chengdu on Sunday as staff prepared for the building to close. It wasn’t clear what deadline the Chinese government has set for the Chengdu staff to leave the country.

In a statement, China’s government called the closure a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States,” according to the AFP, and has referred to allegations against its staff assigned to the Houston consulate as “malicious slander,” according to the AP.

“We are committed to developing a China-US relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” said a foreign ministry spokesperson on Friday.

Tensions between China and the U.S. have worsened in recent weeks over a host of issues, including alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property as well as Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. Top Trump administration officials have also blamed China’s government for insufficiently controlling the spread of the coronavirus, which the U.S. continues to battle.

U.S. authorities also arrested a Chinese national who fled to the country’s consulate in San Francisco after being accused of visa fraud, a Justice Department official said Friday, but it was unclear how she entered the custody of U.S. law enforcement.