The United States said today that it has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston in Texas “to protect American intellectual property” and the private information of Americans.

China strongly condemned the move, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration as it ratchets up pressure on the world’s second-largest economy over trade, technology, human rights and security.

In Houston, firefighters responded to reports of papers being burned on the consulate grounds Tuesday night but were barred entry, according to news media reports.

The U.S., in a brief statement, did not provide any details on why the consulate in Texas was targeted.

“The United States will not tolerate (China’s) violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated (its) unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior,” said the statement, which was attributed to State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration is taking action to halt long-running intellectual property theft, noting indictments announced Tuesday against two Chinese individuals accused of hacking.

“President (Donald) Trump has said ‘Enough, we’re not going to allow this to continue to happen,’” he said while on an official visit to Copenhagen.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the decision and urged the United States to withdraw it.

The statement goes on to say the US has been "shifting the blame to China with stigmatization and unwarranted attacks against China's social system, harassing Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in the US, intimidating and interrogating Chinese students and confiscating their personal electrical devices, even detaining them without cause."

It added "China is committed to the principle of non-interference. Infiltration and interference is never in the genes and tradition of China's foreign policy."-AP/CNN

A firetruck outside the Chinese Consulate Wednesday, July 22, in Houston, Texas, following reports of a fire. Witnesses said people were burning paper in what appeared to be trash cans, according to police.

US says Chinese consulate shut to protect intellectual property, private data