Photo: Cui Meng/GT
As ordered by China, the US Consulate General in Chengdu closed on Monday and China took over the consulate building, as a former Chinese diplomat said the US diplomats burned or took documents showing "unscrupulous" deeds.
Five trucks were seen leaving the consulate on Sunday night likely loaded with a huge amount of cargo.
Former Chinese consul-general in New York Zhang Hongxi told the Global Times the main reason the US established a consulate in Chengdu was to infiltrate China's Tibet, which violates the principle for boosting friendly exchanges between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Zhang said Chinese diplomats always fulfill their duties according to international and local laws and norms in order to boost friendly exchanges and cooperation.
In Houston, US law-enforcement personnel forced their way into China's consulate hours after it was forced to close by Washington. Zhang said the consulate is actually the national property of China, and by entering the compound the US violated international laws and the treaty signed by both sides.
"The US consulate surely has confidential documents or other things they don't want to be made public, which they will normally take away," he noted.
An expert on international relations who asked not to be named, said that in order to keep their secrets, the consulate will ship the documents home or burn them.
Observers said it is possible for the two countries to reopen their consulates, but considering current relations between China and the US, it won't happen in short term. Whether the US Consulate in Chengdu would reopen the same location after tensions ease, would depend on whether the building was rented to another tenant.