China: US consulate staff activities 'inconsistent'

China said the personnel of the U.S. consulate in its western city of Chengdu have been engaged in activities inconsistent with their diplomatic identities, after ordering the consulate to close on Friday.

The move was a response to the Trump administration's order this week for Beijing to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, after Washington accused Chinese agents of trying to steal medical and other research.

Chinese-U.S. relations have soured amid a mounting array of conflicts including trade, the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, technology, spying accusations, Hong Kong and allegations of abuses against Chinese Muslims.

Without elaborating what the activities are, the foreign ministry said they "interfered in China's internal affairs and harmed China's security interests."

On Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump's administration ordered the Houston consulate closed within 72 hours. It alleged Chinese agents tried to steal data from facilities including the Texas A&M medical system.

The U.S. has an embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang and Wuhan.

It also has a consulate in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory.

The consulate in Chengdu is responsible for monitoring Tibet and other areas in the southwest inhabited by non-ethnic Chinese minorities that are considered especially sensitive by Beijing.

China also expressed strong indignation on a Thursday speech of the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he decried the Chinese Communist Party as a dishonest global player and brutal domestic regime, and said the blind engagement of the U.S. and China has failed.

"Pompeo's speech disregarded facts and confused the right and wrong. It was full of ideological bias and cold war mentality," said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the foreign ministry.