Police corral crowds as movers enter US Consulate in China

Three medium-size moving trucks entered a US Consulate in southwest China on Sunday, as its impending closure over rising bilateral tensions drew a steady stream of onlookers for the second straight day.

People stopped to take selfies and photos, jamming a sidewalk busy with shoppers and families with strollers on a sunny day in Chengdu city. A little boy posed with a small Chinese flag before plainclothes police shooed him away as foreign media cameras zoomed in.

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The capital of Sichuan province, along with Houston in Texas, has found itself in the limelight of international politics as China and the US exchanged tit-for-tat orders last week to close each other's consulates in the two heartland cities.

Residents raise their fists to pose for a photo outside the United States Consulate in Chengdu on Sunday. AP

Police have shut the street and sidewalk in front of the American consulate and set up metal barriers along the sidewalk on the other side of the tree-lined road.

Uniformed and plainclothes officers kept watch on both sides of the barriers after scattered incidents following the Chengdu announcement on Friday, including a man who set off firecrackers and hecklers who cursed at foreign media shooting video and photos of the scene.

Earlier Sunday, a bus left the consulate grounds and what appeared to be embassy staff spoke with plainclothes police before retreating back behind the property's solid black gates. It wasn’t clear who or what was on the bus.

Chinese paramilitary personnel guard the gate to the United States Consulate in Chengdu. AP

China ordered the closing of the Chengdu consulate in retaliation for a US order earlier in the week to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

The US alleged that the Houston consulate was a nest of Chinese spies who tried to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. China said the allegations were "malicious slander.”

The consulate closings were a significant escalation in the tensions between the two countries over a range of issues including trade, technology, security and human rights.

Associated Press