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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday July 22 2020, @06:35PM
from the US-consulates-ordered-closed-in-3...2... dept.
from the US-consulates-ordered-closed-in-3...2... dept.
U.S. Orders China to Close Its Houston Consulate in 72 Hours (archive)
The United States ordered China to close its diplomatic consulate in Houston, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, dealing another blow to the rapidly deteriorating relations between the two countries.
In the hours after the Trump administration notified the Chinese of its decision, smoke was seen billowing from a courtyard inside the consulate as employees dumped what appeared to be documents into flaming barrels, according to a video posted by KPRC-TV, a local television station.
The Houston police and fire departments responded to reports of a fire on Tuesday evening but did not enter the building, over which the Chinese have sovereignty.
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U.S. Orders Closure of Chinese Consulate in Houston: Documents Burned in Barrels in Response
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by looorg on Wednesday July 22 2020, @07:41PM (6 children)
Isnt that just standard operating procedure? Burn, destroy, what you cant take with you. All consulates/embassies/outpost-of-any-kind do it, don't they? Its just so inconvenient when your friends/enemies find things they shouldnt find.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2020, @07:47PM
Yes it is, and the documents don't all have to be local information -- looking at the reconstructed documents from the US fleeing its embassy in Tehran, there's a lot of confidential papers that get sent to different stations around the world.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday July 22 2020, @07:49PM (1 child)
Isnt that just standard operating procedure?
Yeah [wikipedia.org], shredding isn't very effective [bbc.com]
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 24 2020, @12:53AM
Shred first, then burn. Bankers boxes full of intact documents don't burn very well in my experience, even with a hot fire.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 22 2020, @07:56PM
Yes, it's not unexpected, just amusing.
In China's case they might have documents that could link back to some of their spies in the U.S., so it's definitely important to get rid of them. Shredding is not 100% effective, they have a tight deadline, so burning barrels it is.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:13PM
My understanding, from hanging out with a kid of US Foreign Service Officers, was that getting rid of this stuff as thoroughly as possible is also part of the procedure when there's a significant chance of the embassy / consulate having its security breached. They'll try to get it out via diplomatic pouches and vehicles and such if they can, but if they can't then it's incinerated, because the consequences of destroying stuff is less than the consequences of things that shouldn't get out getting out and you don't have time to sort everything. Also, in those circumstances there is no such thing as an adult civilian - everyone will be issued a flak jacket and weapon, and will be ordered about just like troops are.
The kid in question got to experience this all in 1991, in Moscow.
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(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday July 22 2020, @08:33PM