#Security tight outside US consulate in China as staff prepares exit

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Paramilitary police officers stand outside the US Consulate General in Chengdu, China, today.
Thomas Peter/Reuters

The US consulate in Chengdu, China, has been cordoned off by security as diplomats prepare to shutter the building amid a tit-for-tat scuffle and escalating tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

US diplomats in the building had been given until 10 a.m. Monday to vacate the premises. Chinese protesters heckled US officials as they left the building through a back door.

The US consulate in the southwestern Chinese metropolis has been in operation since 1985 and maintained a staff of 200.

The Chinese decision to close the consulate comes after the United States ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to fold up after officials accused it of being a hub of Chinese spying in the United States. The Trump administration has accused diplomats there of specifically trying to steal medical and other research in Texas.

“The measure taken by China is a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. “The current situation in Chinese-US relations is not what China desires to see. The United States is responsible for all this.”

On Friday the United States also moved to arrest four scientists, who they accuse of having undisclosed ties to the Chinese military. The quartet were all charged with visa fraud. One of the researchers, Juan Tang, had taken refuge in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, which has now been accused of harboring a known fugitive.

With Post wires