Chengdu mission of US cleared as crowd looks on

nCHENGDU/BEIJING: Staff of the US consulate in Chengdu made final efforts to clear the premises on Sunday as security remained tight outside, ahead of a Monday closure ordered by Beijing as China-us relations continue to worsen.

A mini tourist atmosphere prevailed outside the facility on a tree-lined street on a hot Sunday, as onlookers shared sidewalk space with dozens of uniformed and plainclothes police opposite the entrance.

Consulate closures in Houston and Chengdu have escalated a sharp deterioration in ties between the world’s two biggest economies, which were already their worst in decades amid disputes over trade and technology, the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and its clampdown on Hong Kong.

Police asked people to move on when crowds formed outside the consulate, as onlookers took photos and videos of what they expected would be the last time to see the compound in US hands. The street was closed to traffic, except for consular or police vehicles let through by police.

China on Friday ordered the closure of the Chengdu consulate in the southwestern provide of Sichuan. That means an evacuation deadline of 10am local time on Monday, according to the editor of a state-run tabloid.

A coach that had been on the Chengdu consulate premises on Saturday left on Sunday morning. It was unclear who or what was inside. Since Friday, staff have been seen coming and going, including at least one with a suitcase. Removal vans entered and left on Saturday and Sunday.

CHINA HOLDS DRILLS AT ‘DOORSTEP’ OF SCS

People’s Liberation Army has begun a live-fire drill with “powerful ammunition” in the southern Guangdong province’s Leizhou peninsula, considered to be at the doorstep to the South China Sea, official media reported.

The week-long drills will include anti-ship and anti-aircraft exercises by the PLA air force with the PLA’S navy and rocket forces joining in.

Last week, for the first time, the US had rejected China’s maritime claims in the SCS, large parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.

The messaging behind the PLA’S latest drill is clearly directed at the US, which had also earlier this month deployed two of its frontline aircraft carriers, and their strike groups comprising more battleships, in the SCS besides flying reconnaissance aircraft in the region.