U.S. Awaits China's Houston Retaliation as State Media Runs Poll on Targets

China's state-backed Global Times newspaper has taken to Twitter to ask followers where Beijing will retaliate for the U.S. closure of its Houston consulate this week.

The nationalistic newspaper—owned by the People's Daily which is the Chinese Communist Party's official publication—asked social media users to suggest which U.S. consulate in China would be ordered closed in response to the shuttering of the Houston facility, which means all staff will be evicted by Friday.

The U.S. order—given to "to protect American intellectual property and American's private information," according to State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus—was met with scorn in Beijing.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Wednesday that the order constituted an "unprecedented escalation" in tensions, warning: "If the U.S. continues to go down the wrong path, we will resolutely respond."

Global Times—which often reflects the more belligerent sentiment from within the CCP—tweeted Thursday that China's foreign ministry had threatened "a legitimate and necessary response." The newspaper asked followers: "Which US consulate general in China is most likely to be closed?"

As of Thursday morning, almost 66 percent of more than 11,000 respondents believed the U.S. consulates in the semi-autonomous Hong Kong and Macau regions were most likely to be targets. Just over 10 percent chose the consulate in Guangzhou and around 7 percent the consulate in Chengdu. More than 16 percent believed another, non-listed consulate would be targeted.

The South China Morning Post reported Thursday that the Chengdu facility is in the firing line, citing an anonymous source briefed on the decision. The Post noted that the Chengdu facility, opened in 1985, is important as it covers the entire southwest of China, including Tibet.

The Chengdu consulate made headlines in 2012 when Wang Lijun, the former police chief and vice mayor of the city of Chongqing, tried to defect to the U.S. there amid a dispute with local party chief Bo Xilai. Bo was later convicted on a number of corruption charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Another possible target is the U.S. consulate in Wuhan—the central Chinese city where the COVID-19 coronavirus originated at the end of last year. The Wuhan center is considered the "sister" consulate of China's Houston facility, and has been vacant since the COVID-19 epidemic erupted there in January.

Reuters reported Wednesday that China is considering closing the Wuhan consulate in retaliation for the Houston order, citing an unidentified person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Hu Xijin, the editor of Global Times, said on Twitter that the closure of the Wuhan consulate would be relatively painless for the U.S. "Washington must hope that China will retaliate by closing this consulate, which is a small price for the US," he wrote. "I think China's target will be more likely unexpected, causing the US to feel real pain."

Hu—who described the Houston closure as "a crazy move"—did not elaborate on what China's unexpected response might entail.