The Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Houston was a diplomatic mission of China, headquartered at 3417 Montrose Boulevard in the Montrose neighborhood of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It served eight states in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

: Texas,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, in addition to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. An earlier diplomatic mission had been established by the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

government and was in existence by 1935. Opened in 1979 by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, it was the first Chinese consulate general to be established in the United States. On July 24, 2020, the consulate was ordered to close by the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

. In addition to the main consulate building, it also maintained an education office in Midtown.

History

Prior to the establishment of the

, a Chinese consulate was already present in Houston. The

, as of 1937, was represented by a vice-consul. The descendant of the ROC consulate still exists today, without diplomatic recognition, as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston. The current PRC consulate was established in 1979 as the first PRC consulate in the United States, after Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States and the normalization of

China–United States relations The relationship between the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United States (US) is one of the most important foreign relations in the world. It has been complex and at times tense since the Proclamation of the People's Republi ...

. In an agreement between U.S. President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

and Chinese Vice Premier

Bo Yibo Bo Yibo (; 17 February 1908 – 15 January 2007) was a Chinese politician. He was one of the most senior political figures in China during the 1980s and 1990s. After joining the Chinese Communist Party when he was 17, he worked as a Communist P ...

, China agreed to accept two U.S. consulates in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, while mainland China would open two consulates in Houston and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The Houston consulate-general was officially opened on November 20, 1979. In April 1981, the consulate became the center of a diplomatic incident between mainland China and the United States as Chinese ballet dancer

Li Cunxin Li Cunxin (born 26 January 1961) is a Chinese-Australian former ballet dancer turned stockbroker. He was the artistic director of the Queensland Ballet between 2012 and 2023.Queensland Ballet (2012)Li Cunxin returns to the stage as Queensl ...

was held in the consulate for 21 hours with his newly wed American wife. Li had intended to defect to the U.S., and in the ensuing incident

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agents surrounded the consulate with a U.S. delegation led by then Vice President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

successfully negotiating for Li's release.

2020 closure

On July 21, 2020, the United States government ordered the consulate in Houston to be closed within 72 hours. The

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

spokesperson

Morgan Ortagus Morgan Deann Ortagus (born July 10, 1982) is an American diplomat, intelligence analyst, political advisor, United States Navy, naval officer, and former television commentator serving as deputy Ambassadors of the United States#Special envoys, re ...

released a statement saying that "The United States will not tolerate the PRC's violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people", and that the State Department "have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property

rom Chinese theft Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...

and American's private information". The Houston consulate was accused of being part of a general Chinese espionage effort in the United States, specifically stealing data on medical research and the oil and gas sector. In May 2020, an independent research report from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology found that, "Before its closure in the summer of 2020, the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas was a major hub in China’s global S&T information gathering operation. From January 2015 to July 2020, Houston Consulate staff identified more S&T projects than any other PRC diplomatic post in the world." The consulate was also accused of harassing the families of Chinese dissidents while trying to coerce them to return to mainland China. In immediate reaction to the news of the closure, stock indices in Hong Kong, in Shanghai, and in Shenzhen dropped. Within the hours after the announcement, videos emerged on Houston's locally broadcast

KPRC-TV KPRC-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group. Its studios are located on Southwest Freeway (I-69/ US 59) in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greate ...

showing documents being burned in barrels in the courtyard of the consulate. Local police and fire departments received reports of the fires at around 8 pm local time, and as first responders arrived at the consulate, they were denied entry. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman

Wang Wenbin Wang Wenbin (; born April 1971) is a Chinese politician and diplomat who currently serves as the Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia. He was formerly a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), deputy director of the Foreign Ministry Info ...

issued a statement in response requesting the U.S. to reverse the closure, threatening reciprocal actions (e.g. closing an American consulate in China) otherwise. On July 24, United States officials entered the former consulate and took over the building. In retaliation, the Chinese government ordered the United States on Friday to close its consulate in

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

, in response to the U.S. shutting down the Houston consulate.

List of consuls general

* Wu Xiaoda (吴晓达) November 1979–May 1983 * Tang Xingbo (汤兴伯) June 1983–April 1986 * Ni Yaoli (倪耀礼) April 1986–July 1989 * Zhu Qiusheng (祝秋生) September 1989–February 1993 * Qiu Shengyun (邱胜云) March 1993–July 1996 * Wu Zurong (吴祖荣) August 1996–November 1999 * Zhang Chunxiang (张春祥) December 1999–March 2002 * Hu Yeshun (胡业顺) March 2002–September 2005 * Hua Jinzhou (华锦洲) September 2005–July 2006 ''Source'':

References

External links

*
Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Houston

(houston.china-consulate.org/eng/index.htm old site)
Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Houston
* {{Authority control China, P. R.

Defunct diplomatic missions in the United States China–United States relations Neartown, Houston 1979 establishments in Texas 2020 disestablishments in Texas Government agencies established in 1979 Government agencies disestablished in 2020

History

2020 closure

List of consuls general

See also

References

External links