The US China bilateral relationship is going through a lean phase over numerous issues. From China’s territorial assertion in the South China Sea, the Uighur muslims maltreatment in the Xinjiang province, new security law in Hong Kong to disagreements over other trade and technology issues, and Beijing’s remissive handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the US-China relationship has been walking a tightrope for many months.
Earlier this month, Washington had unanticipatedly ordered China to shut down its consulate in Houston in the US state of Texas. The Chinese side has been given 72 hours to close the consulate after the order was passed. In response, Beijing had sharply castigated the United States and threatened to retaliate in a similar vein.
The United State’s Department sighted national security as the reason for taking such measures and said that it was necessary for the protection of “American intellectual property and American’s private information.” The Houston consulate was also suspected of being a party to China’s “espionage operations” in the States by top US officials.
Beijing has struck back by ordering the closure of a US consulate in southwestern China’s Chengdu province. As per the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, the American flag has been lowered at the Chengdu consulate, on the morning of July 27th.
The officials were seen vacating the premises as locals gathered to witness the evacuation post which the Chinese officials took possession of the building. Prior to this, the US insignia was taken down from the consulate’s facade.
The Chengdu consulate had been working in close association with businesses in Chongqing. It served as an important access to Tibet and Xinjiang, both controversial regions in the Chinese context.
Beijing has accused the diplomacy of partaking in activities jeopardising China’s national security and maintained that it was a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States.”
The closure of the two consulates in the respective nations is emblematic of a new nadir in the US China diplomatic relationship. Earlier President Trump had threatened to cut off all bilateral ties with Beijing over its delinquency in the Coronavirus crisis.
The rising tensions are suggestive of the beginning of a cold war between China and the US. According to analysts and experts, current tensions are likely to escalate in the wake of the US Presidential elections. The entire world’s eyes are set on how this deepening ideological conflict between the two nations is going to calcify their bilateral ties and consequently affect the global scenario.
