“China strongly condemns this outrageous and unjustified move to sabotage China-U.S. relations. The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to immediately retract this wrong decision,” Chinese Fm spox said. “Otherwise the Chinese side will make a legitimate and necessary response.”
🚨 New from @statedeptspox: “We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and American’s private information.” 1/
More from @statedeptspox: The US “will not tolerate the PRC’s violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRC’s unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior.” 2/
.@statedeptspox: “President Trump insists on fairness and reciprocity in U.S.-China relations.” 3/
.@statedeptspox: “The Vienna Convention states diplomats must “respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State” and “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”
The US closure of the Chinese consulate represents a major escalation and an entirely new front in the battle between the world’s two biggest economies. 5/
Now the question is how will China retaliate: the United States has consulates in Shenyang, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu and Guangzhou.
One consideration here: the United States evacuated its consulate in Wuhan in January. Closing it and then ordering closure of Houston could be seen by the US as a one-for-one move. But far from clear if China will see it that way
New: a State Department spokesperson offers comment on consulate decision: “The People’s Republic of China has engaged for years in massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the United States against U.S. government officials and American citizens...”
“These activities have increased markedly in scale and scope over the past few years...”
“As detailed by Pompeo, FBI Director Wray, and Attorney General Barr in public remarks, PRC officials have interfered in our domestic politics, stolen U.S. intellectual property, coerced our business leaders, threatened families of Chinese Americans residing in China, and more.”
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Breaking: Jake Sullivan traveled in secret to Kyiv in a trip aimed at reaffirming U.S. support for the beleaguered ally despite an impasse in Congress over U.S. funding. “We are confident we will get this done, we will get this aid to Ukraine," Sullivan said
Sullivan arrived in Kyiv as the country’s forces are on their back foot having retreated from the eastern city of Avdiivka and facing Russian advances across the front lines. “You should believe in the United States,” Sullivan said
A faction of Republicans in Congress have held up additional funding for Ukraine, faulting the administration for failing to spell out a vision for victory and saying the tens of billions spent already have only achieved a stalemate.
Scoop: A secret assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency casts doubts about Israel’s prospects for success if it mounts a significant escalation against Hezbollah, saying IDF resources will be spread too thin given the war in Gaza, per sources. 🧵
The assessment has bolstered concerns among some in the Biden administration who are wary of comments from senior Israeli officials that Israel will need to expand military operations against Hezbollah
U.S. officials remain concerned that Netanyahu may see an expanded fight in Lebanon as key to his political survival amid domestic criticism of his government’s handling of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack
scoop: Russia has begun firing ballistic missiles into Ukraine that were provided by North Korea, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive U.S. intelligence.
The North Korean projectiles were short-range ballistic missiles that Moscow fired in late December and early January. The deployment indicates North Korea's growing support for Moscow’s war effort washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
In November, South Korea accused North Korea of supplying several types of missiles to Russia, including anti-tank missiles, portable anti-air missiles, ballistic missiles and rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells.
US State Department calls out Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir for "inflammatory and irresponsible" rhetoric "advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza."
In a reference to Netanyahu, the statement says "We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the Government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately."
It's worth noting that Netanyahu on several occasions asked Western leaders, including Biden/Macron/Scholz/Sunak, to pressure Egypt to take in Gazans -- a request they all refused, noting that Egypt has made clear it has no interest in playing any role in their mass displacement
NEW: U.S. officials concede that the United States is not conducting real-time assessments of Israel’s adherence to the laws of war 🧵
Despite that, the United States has flooded Israel with weapons since Oct. 7, transferring at least 15k bombs, including 2k pound bunker buster bombs.
In the first month and a half, Israel dropped more than 22,000 guided and unguided bombs on Gaza that were supplied by Washington, according to previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence
New deep dive from @yabutaleb7 and I on how the Biden administration has handled intense internal disagreements during the course of the Hamas-Israel War 🧵
A day after Biden publicly cast doubt about Palestinian casualty numbers provided by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, a move many saw as effectively downplaying the level of suffering in Gaza, he expressed regret to a private meeting of Muslim Americans:
The White House says Biden's "bear hug" approach (avoiding public criticism of Israel) has allowed him to influence Israel's actions: Israel had planned to flood into Gaza with a massive ground force, but U.S. officials convinced them to send a third as many troops: