The US consulate in Chengdu in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan shut down on Monday July 27, 2020 at 10am. Beijing had ordered the closure within 72 hours on July 24, in retaliation for Washington’s recent demand that the Chinese consulate in the US city of Houston be closed. The tit-for-tat moves are seen as the latest escalation in the deteriorating US-China ties.