U.S. Orders China to Close Houston Consulate

HONG KONG—The U.S. purchased the abrupt closure of China’s consulate in Houston, a dramatic escalation in bilateral tensions that Beijing condemned as outrageous and unparalleled.

Washington’s demand, issued Tuesday, marked “a political provocation unilaterally released by the U.S.,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin explained Wednesday at a plan briefing in Beijing. “China urges the U.S. to quickly rescind its faulty selection, in any other case China will undertake genuine and needed responses.”

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