U.S. authorities opened the doors of the Chinese consulate in Houston on Friday and took over the building shortly after Chinese authorities left the facility on the orders of the Trump Administration.
Federal officials and local police surrounded the Houston facility on Friday afternoon when Chinese officials moved from the building, which, according to the Trump Administration, was a center of espionage activity for the Chinese Communist Party.
Forty minutes after the 4 pm eviction deadline, U.S. officials entered through the consulate’s back door, and a man believed to be a State Department official led the way to the U.S. takeover, The Houston Chronicle reported.
Federal officials and a locksmith pull a door to enter the vacant Chinese Consulate General building on Friday, July 24, 2020 in Houston. On Tuesday, the U.S. ordered the Houston consulate closed in 72 hours, alleging that Chinese agents had attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
(Godofredo Vásquez / Houston Chronicle via AP)
The photographs show federal officials and a locksmith trying to enter the Chinese Consulate General. US officials had attempted three other entrances, but were unable to enter. Security crews wearing US State Department emblems on their shirts were on duty. The Houston Chronicle reported that the local fire department also entered the building.
On Tuesday night, hours after the Trump Administration announced its eviction directive from the Chinese, the Houston Fire Department responded to fires in the building’s courtyard, an apparent effort to destroy documents. Chinese officials refused to allow first responders to enter to put out the fires, Fox 26 reported in Houston.
Federal officials and a locksmith work at a door to enter the vacant Chinese Consulate General building on Friday, July 24, 2020 in Houston. On Tuesday, the U.S. ordered the Houston consulate closed in 72 hours, alleging that Chinese agents had attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. (Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle via AP)
CHINA THREATENS RETALIATION AFTER WE CLOSE THE CONSULATE
Throughout the Friday morning, consulate workers were seen loading two U-haul trucks and vehicles and dumping garbage bags in a nearby garbage container in an attempt to meet the eviction deadline of 4 pm, it reported. the Chronicle.
Consular staff pack items in their vehicles as they leave the Chinese Consulate General building on Friday, July 24, 2020 in Houston. On Tuesday, the U.S. ordered the Houston consulate closed in 72 hours, alleging that Chinese agents had attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. (Godofredo Vásquez / Houston Chronicle via AP)
“We can confirm that the PRC Consulate General in Houston is closed,” a State Department spokesman told Fox News.
After Chinese officials packed up and left, American teams began to force their way in. After two hours of entering, government officials loaded into a van and drove away, leaving Houston police and security teams at the scene, the reported Houston Chronicle.
The United States alleged that the consulate was a nest of Chinese spies who attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas at Houston.
Police officers install barricades in front of the Chinese Consulate General on Friday July 24, 2020 in Houston. Chinese consulate workers loaded moving trucks on Friday before the afternoon deadline to close the facility, as ordered by the Trump administration. (Godofredo Vásquez / Houston Chronicle via AP)
BLONDE: THE CHINESE CONSULATE IN HOUSTON WAS THE “MASS SPY CENTER”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week called the Houston complex “a hub for espionage and theft of intellectual property.” Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said the consulate was a “center of mass espionage [and] force it to close a long time ago. “
China called the allegations “malicious slander” and responded by ordering the United States to close its consulate in the western Chinese city of Chengdu.
CHINA CALLS ON US TO CLOSE CHENGDU CONSULATE IN APPARENT REPAIR FOR HOUSTON CLOSING ORDER
American officials were seen packing and leaving the Chengdu consulate on Saturday when thousands of people gathered to see the Americans forced to leave Beijing by order.
Federal officials arrive to enter the vacant Chinese Consulate General building on Friday, July 24, 2020 in Houston. On Tuesday, the U.S. ordered the Houston consulate closed in 72 hours, alleging that Chinese agents had attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. (Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle via AP)
The South China Morning Post reported that three trucks and a bus were seen entering and leaving the United States complex, while other workers walked out with arms full of boxes and files. Reuters reported that the emblem of the American consulate was removed and security was tight off-site for the move at eye-to-eye consulate closings.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
