Security Swarms Quiet U.S. Consulate After China Shuts It Down
- Livestream of Chengdu mission attracts millions of viewers
- ‘They were always polite and spoke pretty good Chinese’
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Security agents and curious onlookers descended on central Chengdu, as the leafy southwestern Chinese city suddenly became the centerpiece of the latest chapter in collapsing relations between Beijing and Washington.
China’s decision Friday to close the American consulate in the Sichuan provincial capital -- in retaliation for a similar move by the U.S. three days earlier in Houston -- drew usually large groups of pedestrians onto the streets around the facility. Dozens of police and army personnel patrolled the street outside the building, checking IDs, searching phones and ordering passersby to delete photos and videos of the area.