Expert weighs in over Houston Chinese Consulate federal eviction orders

HOUSTON - Experts continue to weigh in on their concerns over the federal eviction orders of the Houston Chinese Consulate.

During a speech from the Nixon Library Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the latest on US-China relations, giving reasons as to why the Trump administration felt the need to order the Chinese Consulate in Houston to cease all operations by Friday.

"Just this week, we announced the closure of the Houston Chinese Consulate because it was a hub of spying and intellectual property theft," Pompeo said. 

Pompeo’s remarks come on the heels of Houston Consul General Cai Wei’s interview with Politico, published earlier in the day, suggesting that the Consulate may defy federal orders and “remain open until further notice.”

Local officials and even historians like Texas Southern University's history professor Roger Hart, who closely monitors escalating U.S.-China tensions, say they were caught off guard by the abrupt closing order this week.

"My concern is that it may be a distraction. My concern is that there is no reasonable cause," Hart said. 

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Hart also serves as the Director of the China Institute. He worries the closure is not over spying concerns but rather, a political distraction from the alarming surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the U.S. 

"China was able to basically eradicate the disease with about 80,000 cases, about 5,000 deaths. Yes, there may be differences in the way we calculate, but rough figures we have are about four million cases now and about 140,000 deaths. This did not need to happen," Hart said. 

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Additionally, Hart worries the continued attempt to disparage China will only add to the increasing anti-Asian sentiment that’s grown since the start of the pandemic.

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Just this week, the Ad Council released a PSA urging the public to “Fight the virus and Fight the bias." 

"This attempt to demonize China isn't helping us. The result is not just more discrimination and frankly more hate towards Chinese, but also towards the entire Asian community including South Asians," Hart said.