Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu: Difference between revisions
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In 1985, each of the offices was covered by one American officer. The Consulate today has grown to 130 total staff. Approximately 100 of these are locally hired professional Chinese staff.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} |
In 1985, each of the offices was covered by one American officer. The Consulate today has grown to 130 total staff. Approximately 100 of these are locally hired professional Chinese staff.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} |
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On July 24, 2020, China revoked the license for the U.S. General Consulate in Chengdu, and ordered the general consulate to cease operations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cheng|first=Evelyn|date=2020-07-24|title=China orders U.S. to close consulate in Chengdu|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/24/china-orders-us-to-close-consulate-in-chengdu.html|access-date=2020-07-24|website=CNBC|language=en}}</ref> This is in retaliation for the closure of the [[Chinese Consulate-General, Houston|Chinese consulate-general in Houston, Texas]] on July 22, 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-07-23|title=US orders China to close Houston consulate|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53497193|access-date=2020-07-24}}</ref> |
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The consulate was closed at 10:00 AM on July 27, 2020. Afterwards, Chinese authorities entered through the front entrance and took it over.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=US consulate in Chengdu officially shuts in retaliation for Houston closure|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/26/asia/chengdu-us-consulate-china-closure-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.cnn.com|date=July 27, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> |
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==Bo Xilai corruption scandal== |
==Bo Xilai corruption scandal== |
Revision as of 13:12, 13 January 2023
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2018) |
Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu | |
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Location | ![]() |
Address | No. 4 Lingshiguan Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu (since August 2, 1993) |
Coordinates | 30°37′37″N 104°03′58″E / 30.62694°N 104.06611°E |
Opened | October 16, 1985 |
Closed | July 27, 2020 |
Consul General | Jim Mullinax (last) |
Website | Official website |
Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu | |||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 美国驻成都总领事馆 | ||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 美國駐成都總領事館 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu | ||||||||
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The Consulate General of the United States, Chengdu (Chinese: 美国驻成都总领事馆) was a diplomatic mission in Wuhou District, Chengdu, China from 1985 to 2020.[1]
This was one of seven American diplomatic and consular posts in China.[2] The consular district included the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou, the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the prefecture-level city of Chongqing.
On February 6, 2012, the Consulate General was the scene of the Wang Lijun incident.[citation needed]
On July 24, 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the US Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu,[citation needed] in response to the United States government's decision to close the Chinese Consulate General in Houston.
On July 27, 2020, the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu was closed.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/U.S._Embassy_and_Consular_Districts_in_China.png/220px-U.S._Embassy_and_Consular_Districts_in_China.png)
History
The consulate was opened by Vice President George H. W. Bush in 1985 in an annex of the Jinjiang Hotel. The consulate moved in 1993 to its own compound at #4, Lingshiguan Lu, where it remains.[citation needed]
In 1993, the Peace Corps began a program in China, headquartered in Chengdu. A Peace Corps Director and staff were posted in the city. From its beginning, the primary mission of Peace Corps China has been to assist in the training of young Chinese citizens to become English teachers in the rapidly increasing number of junior high schools of the area, specifically in the relatively undeveloped provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, and Sichuan as well as the municipality of Chongqing. There were eighteen teachers in the first group of Peace Corps China Volunteers, and they served in five teacher training institutions. Now, twenty years later, there are about 150 Volunteers teaching in 90 institutions.[4]
The consulate compound came under attack in May 1999 by crowds enraged by the US accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. The Consul General's Residence was heavily damaged by fire.[citation needed]
In 2008, Condoleezza Rice was the first US Secretary of State to visit the consulate. She came in response to the massive Sichuan earthquake that killed approximately 80,000 people. Secretary Rice visited a relief camp in Dujiangyan as well as an emergency water purification project donated by the United States.[citation needed]
In February 2012, a Chinese official entered the US Consulate General in Chengdu setting off a political scandal that led to the downfall of Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai in what is now known as the Wang Lijun incident.[citation needed]
The Consulate started with only six American officers and approximately 20 local employees. It was made up of an Executive Office (a Consul General and administrative assistant); a small office handling political, economic and commercial issues; a Consular Section; a Management Section and what was then known as the U.S. Information Service.[citation needed]
In 1985, each of the offices was covered by one American officer. The Consulate today has grown to 130 total staff. Approximately 100 of these are locally hired professional Chinese staff.[citation needed]
Bo Xilai corruption scandal
In February 2012, Wang Lijun, the vice-mayor of Chongqing, fled to the Consulate General of the United States in Chengdu,[5] where he remained for around 24 hours, amid rumors of political infighting with Chongqing Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai, sparking off the Wang Lijun incident which led to Bo's eventual ouster and trial.[6]
Closure
On the morning of July 24, 2020, local time, "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China informed the US Embassy in China of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu. The Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General."[7] The move was a response to the United States government's to close its consulate in Houston on grounds of national security.[8] Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that some Chengdu consulate personnel were "conducting activities not in line with their identities" and "had harmed China’s security interests", but would not elaborate.[9] The White House had urged China earlier in the day to not engage in "tit-for-tat retaliation."[10]
In immediate reaction to the news of the closure, global stock indexes dropped.[11][12] On July 27, 2020, the national flag of US was lowered at the Consulate General in Chengdu at 6:18 AM local time by a detachment of US Marine Security Guards assigned with the role of protecting US missions in China.[13][14]
Consuls General
Historical Consuls General were:
- Jim Mullinax (2017-2020)[15]
- Raymond Greene (2014-2017)
- Peter Haymond (2011-2014)
- David E. Brown (2009-2010)
- James Boughner (2006-2009)
- Jeff Moon (2004-2006)
- David Bleyle (2001-2003)
- Brian Woo (1999-2000)
- Cornelis Keur (1995-1999)
- Donald A. Camp (1992–95)
- Marshall Adair (1990-1992)
- Bill Thomas (1985-1988)
See also
- List of diplomatic missions of the United States
- Embassy of the United States, Beijing
- Consulate General of the United States, Guangzhou
- Consulate General of the United States, Shanghai
- Consulate General of the United States, Shenyang
- Consulate General of the United States, Wuhan
- Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau
- Wang Lijun incident
- QSI International School of Chengdu
- Americans in China
References
- ^ Security Message about Recent Protests at Emei Mountain Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback MachineJuly 8, 2014 (). U.S. Consulate in Chengdu. Retrieved on May 17, 2015. "The U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu Number 4, Lingshiguan Road Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041"
- ^ "History of the Consulate | Consulate General of the United States Chengdu, China". Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Congressional Delegation Meets with Peace Corps Program in China". Peace Corps. April 25, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Lafraniere, Sharon (April 10, 2012). "Death of a Briton Is Thrust to Center of China Scandal". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 10, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ^ Megha Rajagopalan (July 25, 2013). "China charges Bo Xilai with corruption, paves way for trial". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "China's Foreign Ministry Telling US to Close its Consulate General in Chengdu". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "China tells US to close consulate in Chengdu in growing spat". AP NEWS. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "U.S. officials won't say whether they will comply with China order to close Chengdu consulate". CNBC. July 24, 2020.
- ^ "China tells U.S. to close consulate in Chengdu in growing spat". CBC. AP and Reuters. July 24, 2020.
- ^ "Markets fall as China closes US consulate in response to Houston move". Financial Times. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "Global stocks tumble as China tensions escalate and the US economy struggles". CNN. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ "美国驻成都总领事馆美国国旗已降下" (in Chinese). Sina. July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
- ^ "Flag lowered as U.S. departs Chengdu consulate in China". CNBCh. July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
- ^ Consul General Archived 2015-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
- 1985 establishments in China
- 2020 disestablishments in China
- Government agencies established in 1985
- Government agencies disestablished in 2020
- Diplomatic missions in China
- Buildings and structures in Chengdu
- History of Chengdu
- Organizations based in Chengdu
- China–United States relations
- Defunct diplomatic missions of the United States