Patriots were disappointed with the choice of Chengdu
The United States’ abrupt decision to shut down the Chinese consulate in Houston on July 22 shocked China, and in a tit-for-tat expected measure, Beijing announced the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu in Western China two days later.
Chinese nationalists were disappointed with the choice of Chengdu. According to online polls conducted by Global Times and Guancha, news sites affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), approximately 70 percent of those who replied would have favored the closure of the US consulate in Hong Kong, and indicate the consulate in Guangzhou as their second most popular choice.
On July 24, after a pro-Beijing group protested outside the US consulate in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, a pro-Beijing media outlet, tweeted:
Firecrackers outside the US Consulate in Chengdu
In mainland China, the state-owned Chinese Central Television (CCTV) set up live cameras outside the Chengdu Consulate. Police and a fire engine were also standing by, ready to react to a much anticipated “document burning scene,” as many online patriots were expecting to see something similar to what had happened in the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
But there was no such scene. Instead, one netizen suggested to turn the building into a hot pot restaurant — an idea that was widely supported with more than 240,000 thumbs-up signs on the comment thread of the CCTV live cast.
This story was first published in Global Voices