Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, tweeted his support Wednesday for the closure of a Chinese consulate in Houston, alleging that the espionage activity was carried out through the facility.
The United States ordered the consulate closed on Tuesday. The Chinese government said Wednesday morning that they had been instructed to do so without notice, but Rubio says the move had been “long overdue.”
CHINA THREATENS RETALIATION AFTER US ORDERS HOUSTON CONSULATE CLOSURE
“# The Houston consulate in China is a massive spy center, forcing it to close long ago,” he said, describing it as a “central node” of the Chinese Communist Party’s espionage operations.
“This had to happen,” he tweeted.
China called the shutdown an “unprecedented escalation” by the United States and threatened to retaliate, according to the South China Morning Post.
“China demands that the United States reverse the wrong decision. If the United States moves forward, China will take the necessary countermeasures, “said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement to Fox News that the shutdown directive was issued “to protect American intellectual property and the private information of Americans.”
The United States “will not tolerate the PRC’s violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRC’s unfair business practices, theft of American jobs and other egregious behavior,” he added. “President Trump insists on equity and reciprocity in relations between the United States and China.”
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The documents were burned inside the consulate courtyard Tuesday night, KPRC-TV reported in Houston.
“You could smell the paper burning,” a witness told the station. “But, all the firefighters were surrounding the building. They couldn’t get in.”
Brie Stimson and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.
