A hub of spying says Pompeo on China’s Houston consulate

Washington, July 24: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Chinese consulate in Houston was a centre of espionage and operations to illegally obtain trade secrets of US companies.

This week we closed down China's consulate in Houston because it was a hub of spying and intellectual property theft, Pompeo also said.

China ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets costing millions of jobs across America, he also said at a speech at California on China's threat to the world.

Meanwhile, news reports have said that the US government is looking for a Chinese scientist accused of visa fraud. The report by CNN came in the backdrop of the US government telling China to shut down its consulate in Houston.

The report said that the scientist, Tang Juan is hiding in China's consulate in San Francisco. He is a researcher who focuses on biology, CNN also reported.

She has been accused of lying about the connection with the Chinese military in order to get entry into the US. She was charged with visa fraud on June 26.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the other hand, is assessing that Tang is in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.

On Wednesday, China had said that it had been given 72 hours to close the consulate. This decision marked increased tensions between the two countries.