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China's Houston Consulate Closed to 'Protect’ US Intellectual Property

A fire engine is seen outside the Chinese consulate in Houston in a video from the television station KTRK, via AP
A fire engine is seen outside the Chinese consulate in Houston in a video from the television station KTRK, via AP
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China's Houston Consulate Closed to 'Protect’ US Intellectual Property

A fire engine is seen outside the Chinese consulate in Houston in a video from the television station KTRK, via AP
A fire engine is seen outside the Chinese consulate in Houston in a video from the television station KTRK, via AP

The US State Department said Wednesday that the recent closing of China's consulate in Houston was to protect Americans' intellectual property and private information.

"We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information," State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus told reporters during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Copenhagen.

Under the Vienna Convention states "have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs" of the receiving state,” Ortagus said.

"China urges the US to immediately withdraw its wrong decision, or China will definitely take a proper and necessary response," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday.

"It is a political provocation unilaterally launched by the US side, which seriously violates international law... and the bilateral consular agreement between China and the US," Wang added.

Beijing accused the United States of "slander" on Wednesday after two Chinese nationals were indicted for seeking to steal coronavirus vaccine research and hacking hundreds of companies.

"The Chinese government is a staunch defender of cyber security, and has always opposed and cracked down on cyber attacks and cyber crime in all forms," said Wang.

The US must "immediately stop its slander and smearing of China on cyber security issues," he told a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, targeted biotech companies but did not appear to have actually compromised any COVID-19 research, the US Justice Department said Tuesday.

Both are believed to be in China.

At a press conference, Assistant Attorney General John Demers said China had "now taken its place... in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cyber criminals."

But Beijing rejected the claims and said cyber space "should not become a new battleground".

"Those countries that seek cyber space hegemony will only hurt themselves," Wang said.

The indictment comes amid rising tensions between the global superpowers on a number of fronts, from trade to Beijing's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

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NKorea Leader: Longest ICBM Test 'Appropriate Military Action' against Enemies

FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
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NKorea Leader: Longest ICBM Test 'Appropriate Military Action' against Enemies

FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during what North Korea says is a drill at an unknown location December 18, 2023 in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korea said it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday, upgrading what it called the "world's most powerful strategic weapon,” as Seoul warned Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia for helping with the war in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was on hand and said the test was a warning to enemies that have been threatening the country's security, KCNA state news agency said.
"The test-fire is an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals, who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and posed a threat to the security of our Republic recently, of our counteraction will," Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.
The muscle-flexing comes amid a storm of international condemnation and rising alarm over what the U.S. and others say is North Korea's deployment of 11,000 troops to Russia - 3,000 of them close to the western frontlines with Ukraine.
The launch drew swift condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States.
A day earlier, Seoul reported signs the North may test-launch an ICBM or conduct a seventh nuclear test around the US presidential election on Tuesday, seeking to draw attention to its growing military prowess.
Shin Seung-ki, head of research on North Korea's military at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said the launch was likely to test improved booster performance of an existing ICBM - possibly with the help of Russia.
"North Korea will want to keep getting help like this, because it saves times and costs while improving performance and upgrading the stability of weapons system," he said.
Having come under pressure over its engagement with Russia, "the intention may be to show that it will not bow to pressure, that it will respond to strength with strength, and also to seek some influence on the US presidential election," Shin added.

The launch early on Thursday was the longest ballistic missile test by the North with a flight-time of 87 minutes, according to South Korea.
KCNA said the test set new records of its missile capabilities.
The missile took off on a sharply lofted trajectory from an area near the North's capital and splashed down about 200 km west of Japan's Okushiri island, off Hokkaido.
It reached an altitude of 7,000 km and flew a distance of 1,000 km, the Japanese government said.

The so-called lofted trajectory of a projectile flying at a sharply raised angle is intended to test its thrust and stability over much shorter distances relative to the designed range, partly for safety and to avoid the political fallout of sending a missile far into the Pacific.

North Korea's last ICBM, dubbed the Hwasong-18, was tested in December last year. Fueled by solid-propellant and fired from a road launcher, it was also launched at a sharply raised angle and flew for 73 minutes, translating to a potential range of 15,000 km on a normal trajectory.
That is a distance that puts anywhere in the mainland United States within range.

Pyongyang's latest test came just hours after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun met in Washington to condemn the North Korean troop deployment in Russia.

Neither Moscow or Pyongyang have directly acknowledged the deployment, but Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday questioned why its allies like North Korea could not help Moscow in its war against Ukraine given Western countries claim the right to help Kyiv.

South Korea said the deployment was a direct threat to its security because the North would gain valuable combat experience in a modern warfare and it will likely be rewarded by Moscow with "technology transfers" in areas such as tactical nuclear weapons, ICBMs, ballistic missile submarines and military reconnaissance satellites.