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Houston, we have a problem. No, really. America woke up to the news on Wednesday that flames were licking out of the Chinese consulate in Houston. Fire engines were on the scene. Officials were burning documents ahead of a Friday deadline to shut down the consulate. Some analysts I spoke to told me they saw this stark US decision, to close down the Chinese consulate in Houston over spying concerns, as the moment that healthy or increasingly unhealthy competition between the US and China tipped over into Cold War.
The Department of Justice this week said that two Chinese hackers had spent a decade stealing American secrets, culminating in recent efforts to steal coronavirus research. It's not yet clear what triggered the decision to close the Houston consulate, and consulates all over the world double as firehouses. But Trump administration's officials are increasingly clear that they talk about their cumulative dissatisfaction with Beijing failing to fall in line with what they see as international norms, and an increasing desire to disrupt rather than merely confront its operations.
Whether or not the Cold War is back on, which if it were, it might look like countries lining up behind either capital in a complete bifurcation of the global economy, which doesn't look anything like close at the moment, it's clear that the strife between the US and China is reaching new highs. But nothing like the heights some imagine. Defence Secretary, Mark Esper, this week spoke of China's desire to build its own maritime empire. And US lawmakers also spoke of their concerns that China might seek to invade Taiwan, the self-governing island that China considers a rebel outpost.
But would America go to war over any of this? The Trump administration wants to make sure that Beijing wastes no time in thinking about the answers. The Trump administration is funnelling increasing weapons to Taiwan, and it's taking a stand on everything from the South China Sea to forcing the hand of allies to reject Huawei. However, this competition should be characterised, it's on.