After sudden order to close Houston's Chinese consulate, a fire and accusation of Communist spies

The United States ordered the closure of the Consulate General of China in Houston on Tuesday, sparking harsh responses from the Chinese government and workers inside the consulate. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the closure was due to "unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior," although provided no specific allegations of misconduct. She added the closure was necessary to protect American's intellectual property and private information. Why Houston's consulate general was specifically targeted is unclear. China has since vowed to retaliate, calling the announced closure an "unprecedented escalation" in relations between the two governments, according to the Associated Press. The move is still under scrutiny, but Republican Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted that the Houston consulate served as a "central node of the Communist Party’s vast network of spies and influence operations." "Now that building must close & the spies have 72 hours to leave or face arrest," Rubio tweeted. "This needed to happen." A Houston police official told the Houston Chronicle that the occupants of the consulate were being evicted from the building at 3417 Montrose Blvd. around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Within hours, witnesses spotted workers inside the courtyard burning papers, the official said. Firefighters could smell smoke outside the building but found no signs of a "significant threat," according to Houston Fire Department Asst. Chief Ruy Lozano. A firefighter perched atop a large ladder saw material burning in barrels, according to Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña. "All I know, it's illegal to have open burning in the city of Houston like that," Peña said. "But it's a sovereign country, and we can't get access into those consulates so we're limited in what we can do." Consulate workers denied firefighters from entering the building. Firefighters will only enter the building without consent if there is threat to someone's health and safety, Luzano said. The people inside the consulate eventually stopped burning the materials, Peña said. The consulate appeared to be operating business as usual Wednesday morning until a moving truck and white unmarked van with special consul license plates showed up at a rear garage door. People from inside the consulate were seen loading the van with full trash bags, cleaning supplies and other household items, including decorations. At the front of the building, a guard stood outside the front doors, armed with a gun on his hip. Ronald Cline, 75, lives near the consulate and noticed what smelled like burning plastic around 9 or 10 p.m. Tuesday night. “It was all the acid in the air and the smoke,” he said. Aside from the occasional Falun Gong protest outside the building, Cline said, the consulate is a quiet neighbor. Another property owned by the consulate, on Almeda and Hepburn, sat idle Wednesday morning. Nothing was visible from the street, as a large brick fence, iron gates and barbed wire surrounds the complex. Security cameras also overlook the property, and a People's Republic of China flag waved inside the gates. City spokeswoman Mary Benton said their international affairs office has been in touch with the state department at Mayor Sylvester Turner’s request. But because the consulate has diplomatic immunity, she said, “there’s not much for the city of Houston to do.” Turner is expected to address the consulate closure at a city council meeting later on Wednesday, Benton said. Houston is host to 92 consulates for foreign governments, she continued. The Chinese government bought the Montrose Boulevard property, then a five-story apartment building, in 1980 and remodeled it into its headquarters. The purchase signaled a surge in Chinese commerce through the Houston Ship Channel. The consulate covers Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico. Houston is no stranger to controversy surrounding the consulate and relations between the Chinese and United States governments. Three scientists were terminated from MD Anderson Cancer Center in April 2019 after the National Institutes of Health, a public funder of biomedical research, identified researchers throughout the country with possible ties to espionage and trade theft on behalf of China. Critics of the move claimed those scientists were racially profiled. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's infamous and now-deleted tweet praising pro-democratic protesters in Hong Kong put Houston in the international spotlight once again in October 2019. The tweet, which was wiped from Twitter within minutes, drew ire from the Chinese government and cost the team millions in revenue. In 2017, Houston businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis returned to the United States after she was arrested during a 2015 trip and accused of espionage. Also in 2017, a fire broke out inside an apartment in the consulate. Firefighters forced their way in and put out the fire within 30 minutes. In 2010, three Houston police officers were placed on desk duty after they followed a diplomat and his wife into the consulate's garage and detained the two. The consulate is considered sovereign ground, sparking a controversy described as a "grave violation" of international agreements. jay.jordan@chron.com nicole.hensley@chron.com samantha.keterrer@chron.com julian.gill@chron.com

After sudden order to close Houston's Chinese consulate, a fire and accusation of Communist spies

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