Flag lowered as U.S. vacates China consulate
CHENGDU, China — The American flag was taken down at a U.S. consulate in China, according to state media, as officials vacate the premises under order of the Chinese government.
State broadcaster CCTV said on social media the flag was lowered at 6:18 a.m. on Monday at the U.S. mission in Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province .
Police have closed off a two to three block area around the consulate, cutting off virtually any view of the property. Vehicles could be seen moving behind multiple police lines.
China ordered the consulate’s closing on Friday in retaliation for a U.S. order to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The closings marked a significant escalation in the tensions between the two countries over a range of issues, including trade, technology, security and human rights.
Moving trucks arrived at the U.S. consulate Sunday afternoon and left a few hours later. Late at night, flatbed trailers entered the complex. One later emerged carrying a shipping container and a crane.
Before the area was closed, the impending consulate closure drew onlookers over the weekend as Chengdu, like Houston, found itself in the limelight of international politics.
People stopped to take selfies and photos, jamming a sidewalk busy with shoppers and families with strollers on a sunny day in the city of Chengdu. A little boy posed with a small Chinese flag before plainclothes police shooed him away as foreign media cameras zoomed in.
Police shut the street and sidewalk in front of the consulate and set up metal barriers along the sidewalk on the other side of the road.
Uniformed and plainclothes officers kept watch on both sides of the barriers after scattered incidents following the Chengdu announcement on Friday, including a man who set off firecrackers and hecklers who cursed at foreign media shooting video and photos of the scene.