US representation in Chengdu Flag raised, consulate closed

All US national emblems are veiled: after 35 years, China has closed the US consulate in Chengdu in southern China. Diplomatic relations between China and the United States are at a low.

By Steffen Wurzel, ARD Studio Shanghai

The whole weekend was packed up and taken away. Trucks and cars with diplomatic plates repeatedly left the consulate area in the south of Chengdu. The American flag was brought up shortly after six in the morning.

In the morning, photographers and camera teams from the state media were there when Chinese police officers covered the American emblems on the outside wall of the building.

Closes after 35 years

The US Consulate General in Chengdu is now officially closed after 35 years. The Chinese government and party leadership in Beijing had ordered this on Friday. An office of the US agricultural authority, which is located on the neighboring site of the German Consulate General in Chengdu, is apparently also affected.

Dozens of American diplomats now have to leave China, and more than 100 Chinese employees are losing their jobs.

An employee reported to ARD radio that the mood among local staff was correspondingly poor. She is currently negotiating a severance payment, but finding a new job as someone who previously worked for the US government is very difficult in China given the politically charged mood.

Mutual blame

"This morning, employees cleared the US consulate premises in accordance with Chinese requirements," said government spokesman Wang Wenbin in Beijing. "The US Consulate General in Chengdu has been closed, Chinese officials have entered the building and taken control."

The fact that the Communist leadership has closed the US mission in Chengdu, a city of 15 million people, is a reaction to the fact that the US government previously closed the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas. Both sides blame each other for the escalation.

US-China crisis

Population is divided
A 63-year-old passer-by told Reuters that, of course, they didn't want relations with the US to deteriorate so much. "It was a two-way reaction to the American step. I think it is all very unfortunate."

Many young people under 30 are clearly more nationalistic. They grew up in the golden 1990s and 2000s for China, which were characterized by an economic upswing on the one hand and a completely identical press on the other. A 25-year-old Chengduerin literally quotes the usual propaganda statements by the Chinese state and party leadership: "China is a very strong nation. We have a history that is thousands of years old. China was powerful at that time and will be in the future. That is the belief that people in China have. "

Diplomatic relations at rock bottom
Political observers largely agree: diplomatic relations between the People's Republic and the United States have been worse than ever since the official establishment of relations in 1979.

In the meantime, China and the United States have little to say in almost any area: The economic and trade war remains unsolved, corona-related, there is almost no scientific or cultural exchange, and tourist and business trips are also zero due to closed borders. Most observers in the United States also do not expect the American attitude towards the communist leadership to change significantly if the government changes after the election in November.