Shutdown of consulate brings negative effects

Experts: Chinese consular presence in Houston needed for regular exchanges

More than four years after the administration of former US president Donald Trump closed the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, many in the community, including two people who had worked with the consulate to facilitate exchanges between the United States and China, continued to point out the negative effects of the move.

Immigration lawyer Charles Foster said he never understood the shutdown "at a time of tense relations between the US and China".

"Having been active in the international community in Houston as well as in the consular corps for many years, I was very familiar with the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China located on Montrose Boulevard, not that far from my home," Foster said.