Beijing Plans To Shutter US Consulate In China In Retaliation For Houston Mission Closure

China is preparing to unveil its promised retaliation against the US over the Trump Administration’s decision to close China’s Houston consulate, a diplomatic mission that Sen. Marco Rubio once described as “a nest of spies”.

In keeping with the promise, first published in the Global Times, that Beijing would inflict “real pain” on the US in its response to the closure of the Houston consulate, Editor Hu Xijin warned that China’s decision – which would involve the closure of at least one US diplomatic mission (though likely not the one in Wuhan, as Hu dismissed that idea yesterday).

Stocks slid on the news…

….while yuan traded offshore also weakened.

Hu also warned about “serious consequences” for the US. And this was before WSJ published leaked prepared remarks from a speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he’s set to give later today.

Earlier today, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry accused Washington of breaking down the “friendship bridge” uniting the world’s two largest economies. Washington’s decision to shutter the consulate – the US is giving Chinese personnel 72 hours to leave – prompted officials to take to the roof in a flurry of document-burning that caught the attention of local authorities. Beijing later claimed that its embassy in Washington and people who work there had been threatened.