Trouble's a brewin' at the Chinese Consulate in Texas!
Witnesses say occupants of the Chinese consulate building in #Houston could be spotted burning documents as the US Federal government just ordered the facility to close.
Some people are speculating that the building was being used to store stolen COVID research data obtained by Chinese hackers.
Sounds like an excessive amount of malarkey and shenanigans are afoot!
The United States has told the Chinese consulate in Houston to shut down in three days, citing a need to protect American intellectual property and information, amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries.
The Houston fire department chief Samuel Pena said there, "appears to be open burning in a container within the courtyard of the Chinese consulate facility. It does not appear to be an unconfined fire but we have not been allowed access."
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department indicted two Chinese nationals for a decade-long cyber espionage campaign in which they were accused of stealing information on weapons designs, drug information, software source code and personal data.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the impending closure of the Houston consulate, after China's foreign ministry reported it had been told to shut the mission.
A firetruck sits outside of the Chinese consulate on July 22, 2020, in Houston after the US State Department ordered China to close the consulate. - The US has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston and accused it of ramping up spying operations, dramatically escalating diplomatic tensions between the feuding superpowers. The July 21, 2020, announcement infuriated Beijing, which vowed to retaliate as the two countries squabble over a slew of issues ranging from trade to the coronavirus pandemic -- and China's policies in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)