Shutdown of consulate brings negative effects

More than four years after the administration of former US president Donald Trump closed the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, many in the community, including two people who had worked with the consulate to facilitate exchanges between the United States and China, continued to point out the negative effects of the move.

Immigration lawyer Charles Foster said he never understood the shutdown "at a time of tense relations between the US and China".

"Having been active in the international community in Houston as well as in the consular corps for many years, I was very familiar with the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China located on Montrose Boulevard, not that far from my home," Foster said.

"I would have attended many receptions and other activities sponsored by the consulate general."

Foster was the chairman of the Asia Society Texas Center for more than two decades. In that capacity and more, he facilitated many exchanges between the two countries — from moderating a US-China discussion to being instrumental in putting Houston on the itinerary of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin during his 2002 visit to the US.

The consulate general in Houston was closed in July 2020 over US allegations that it operated outside ordinary diplomatic norms, claims that China termed "malicious slander".

"I had no knowledge of the actual facts from any source other than the fact that embassies and consular posts worldwide provide useful data about the country in which their officials are serving in order to provide their home country a more complete picture of issues impacting the bilateral relationship," Foster said.

He said that "it is in the best interest of both countries to maintain diplomatic representation precisely with which there are significant business and other ties, and even more so if there is tension in the relationship".

Texas, like the rest of the US, has developed a strong cultural and economic relationship with China, thanks to a large population of Chinese Americans in the state, particularly in its big cities such as Houston and Dallas.

People with family and other ties to China have over the years helped facilitate the extraordinary growth in business between the US and China, Foster said.

According to the 2023 US Exports to China report by the US-China Business Council, Texas ranked as the top state in the US in goods exported to China in 2022, worth $21.8 billion, followed by California with $17.7 billion.

The absence of the consulate impedes such exchanges, Foster said.

"Trade is facilitated through many agreements and related documentation, much of which is required to be legalized," he said.

Both individuals and companies seeking the necessary visas or legalization of documents now have to do so in Washington, which results in "additional costs, time and frequent delays", Foster said.

That sentiment was shared by David Firestein, CEO and president of the George H. W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations.

As a former diplomat who once worked at the US embassy in Beijing, Firestein said that he understands the need for a consular presence.

"Given the importance of Texas as a state, and Houston as a city, to say nothing of the entire consular district that was covered by the consulate general, it just seems really unfortunate, from a US standpoint, to not have Chinese government representation there," he said.

"It's just as unfortunate for all involved that we don't have government representation in Chengdu anymore as a result, either."

China had to close the US consulate in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, in 2020, a week after the Houston consulate was ordered to close.

Absence benefits no one

The Houston closure does not benefit anyone, Firestein said.

"It obviously inconveniences a lot of people. It makes it more difficult for people in this region of the United States to get visas and to engage directly in all the things that are associated with diplomacy, people-to-people exchanges and so on."

Firestein had communicated with the Chinese consulate on matters related to the work of the foundation.

"We would see the consul general pretty regularly, and we would have opportunities to discuss the bilateral relationship, discuss delegations going in both directions, and exchange views," he said.

Firestein said that he has built "a strong and solid line of communication" with the Chinese embassy in Washington, which has taken over all the work in eight US states and Puerto Rico, a self-governing commonwealth, under the area of the Houston consulate "for discussion on track-two diplomacy work and other bilateral issues".

But it is no longer possible "to see each other face-to-face as often or as conveniently or as inexpensively as was the case when there was a consulate general", he said.

The Chinese consulate in Houston was the first to open following the normalization of US-China relations and late leader Deng Xiaoping's historic visit to Texas in 1979.

Reopening both consulates would be an easy way to move the bilateral relationship in a relatively more positive direction, Firestein said.