The American flag was lowered today in Chengdu, where the US consulate has fallen amongst the weapons used by China against the US, in the rapidly brewing cold war between the two countries.
Earlier in the morning state broadcaster, CCTV showed footage of the flag being lowered, following months of escalating tensions between the two powerful countries.
Beijing had come out to confirm the consulate had been closed at 10 am (0200 GMT).
“Afterwards, Chinese authorities entered through the front entrance and took it over,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Chengdu consulate had been asked to shut down in retaliation for the forced closure of Beijing’s consulate in Houston, Texas. Relations between both countries has been hanging on a trade for some time now.
The consulates had both shut down within 72 hours.
Footage from state media showed officials arriving at the consulate in a minibus and walking into the front of the building.
They were followed by several workers in full hazmat suits and goggles, carrying cleaning equipment.
Two men wearing white gloves were shown covering up a US consulate sign on the wall outside the building with a large grey sheet.
The road leading to the Chengdu mission was closed on Monday, with police and cordons blocking the way. State media reported that staff members had left the compound at around 6 am Monday morning.
A crowd gathered outside the now-closed mission, and one man was escorted away by police after waving a banner and two Chinese flags while shouting “Long Live China’s Communist Party”.
The US embassy in Beijing took to Twitter to bid the Chengdu mission farewell on Monday.
“Today, we bid farewell to the US consulate in Chengdu. We will miss you forever,” it read.
Over the weekend, removal trucks entered the site, and cleaners were seen carting large black rubbish bags from the consulate.
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Workers were seen removing the US insignia from the front of the building.
Beijing says closing the consulate was a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States”, and has alleged that staff at the diplomatic mission endangered China’s security and interests.
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters that some US staff in the Chengdu consulate “were engaged in activities outside of their capacity, interfered in China’s internal affairs, and endangered China’s security and interests”.
Washington officials, meanwhile, said there had been unacceptable efforts by the Chinese consulate in Houston to steal US corporate secrets and proprietary medical and scientific research.
Tensions have soared between the world’s two biggest economic powers on a range of fronts including trade, China’s handling of the coronavirus which US President Trump called the Wuhan Virus, and a tough new security law for Hong Kong, with US officials warning of a “new tyranny” from China.
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The last Chinese diplomats left the Houston consulate last Friday, with officials there seen loading large sacks of documents and other items onto trucks and throwing some in bins.
Beijing said Saturday that US agents “forcibly” entered the Houston consulate, which it said was “China’s national property”.
Its statement warned that “China will make a proper and necessary response in this regard”.
The consulate has joined the list of weapons in this cold war which included Tech companies, banks, and stock.
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