Burning the Boats: Consulate Closures in Houston and Chengdu

On July 23, 2020, the United States government ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston to close. Less than a week later, the American consulate in Chengdu was vacated as reciprocation from Beijing. Harvard Department of Government Ph.D. candidate and former diplomat Naima Green-Riley analyzes the motivations behind each government's drastic step and evaluates the possible implications for the regions serviced by each consulate, as well as the U.S.-China relationship as a whole.