Timeline: The Unraveling Of U.S.-China Relations
In recent weeks, U.S.-China relations have unraveled with alarming speed, and some analysts say they are now at their worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic ties in 1979.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered China's consulate in Houston to close, a step that significantly amps up the tension in already fraught relations between the world's top two economies.
The administration has heaped blame on China for the coronavirus pandemic and restricted the number of Chinese journalists in the U.S. It says its moves reciprocate the strict limits that China places on American journalists.
It has also imposed a string of measures to punish China for alleged human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang — and for a national security law written and passed in Beijing, which many believe effectively ends the high degree of autonomy promised to Hong Kong when it returned to China's control in 1997.
The Chinese government has responded in kind, deflecting blame for the pandemic, kicking out some U.S. journalists and putting pressure on those who remain. It has also announced sanctions on U.S. lawmakers and at least one American defense company.
With threats of further action from the White House, including possible financial sanctions, and with China turning into a key 2020 campaign issue, the downward spiral seems likely to continue.
Below is a timeline highlighting key developments that are reshaping U.S-China relations, starting with the most recent.
July 22
China's Foreign Ministry says the U.S. ordered it to close its consulate in Houston by Friday, and calls the move an "unprecedented escalation." State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus says in a statement that the move, which came Tuesday, was "to protect American intellectual property and American's [sic] private information."
July 21
The Justice Department charges two suspected Chinese hackers who allegedly targeted U.S. companies conducting COVID-19 research, part of what the government called long-running efforts to steal American trade secrets and intellectual property.
July 20
The Commerce Department sanctions 11 Chinese companies for their connection with Xinjiang human rights abuses and forced labor programs.
July 17
The Departments of State and Treasury include four Chinese citizens and one Chinese biotech company under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act for their involvement in international drug trafficking operations of Chinese synthetic opioids.
July 15
The U.S. imposes visa restrictions on employees from Chinese tech companies deemed to have provided "material support to regimes engaging in human rights abuses globally," including the telecommunications firm Huawei.
July 14
President Trump signs the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which mandates sanctions against foreign people or entities who are deemed to have helped erode rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. He also signs an executive order revoking Hong Kong's "special status" in relations with the United States.
July 14
China says it will sanction Lockheed Martin for its involvement in the latest U.S. arms sale to Chinese-claimed Taiwan. Lockheed Martin is the main contractor for a $620 million upgrade for Taiwan's Patriot surface-to-air missiles, which the U.S. government approved the previous week, according to Reuters.
July 13
The U.S. announces that China has no legal grounds for most of its maritime claims in the South China Sea, enunciating a policy stance previously unarticulated. Washington's stated neutrality on the territorial claims by China and other Southeast Asian nations remains unchanged.
July 13
China imposes sanctions on four U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio.
July 9
U.S. imposes visa and asset restrictions on Chinese officials linked to rights abuses in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Among those sanctioned is the Communist Party's top official in Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, marking the first time the U.S. explicitly sanctions a member of China's elite Politburo.
July 7
The State Department imposes visa restrictions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials deemed to be "substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas."
July 1
The U.S. issues a Xinjiang supply chain business advisory highlighting the risks of doing business with companies in the restive far-western region of China.
June 30
China's parliament passes the national security law for Hong Kong.
June 29
The U.S. announces an end to exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment to Hong Kong. It says it will impose the same restrictions on export of U.S. defense and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong as it does to China.
June 26
The State Department imposes visa restrictions on unidentified current and former Chinese Communist Party officials "believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy ... or undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong."
June 22
The State Department designates the U.S. operations of China Central Television, China News Service, the People's Daily and the Global Times as "foreign missions." Entities designated as foreign missions must adhere to certain administrative requirements that also apply to foreign embassies and consulates in the United States.
May 29
President Trump issues a proclamation to block Chinese students at graduate or higher levels, specifically those associated with Chinese entities involved in China's "military-civil fusion" strategy, amidst ongoing fears of transfer of sensitive technology to China.
May 27
The State Department decertifies Hong Kong as sufficiently autonomous from China, stating that the territory no longer warrants differential treatment from the rest of China under U.S. law.
May 21
China unveils plans to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong, announcing a draft proposal submitted to the leaders of the national parliament. The U.S. condemns the proposal.
May 15
The Commerce Department issues a new rule, taking effect in September, to bar Huawei and its suppliers from using American technology and software.
May 13
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security announce that China was trying to steal U.S. intellectual property and data related to COVID-19 research.
April 30
President Trump says he has a "high degree of confidence" the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese virology lab in Wuhan. He says he has seen evidence, but declines to give details.
April 18
Hong Kong police arrest 15 of the city's highest-profile democracy activists on charges of illegal assembly when taking part in protests last year. The State Department condemns the arrests.
March 17
China announces it will expel journalists from the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal who are American citizens.
March 16
In a tweet, President Trump uses the term "Chinese virus" to describe the coronavirus, in what appears to be the first time he does so.
March 12
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweets: "...It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan," a statement analysts see as an attempt to push back against U.S. finger-pointing at China for the pandemic.
March 5
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refers to the coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus" — a controversial term that, along with "Chinese virus," is used by some U.S. politicians eager to remind listeners where the first cases were identified. Pompeo repeats the term in subsequent days.
March 2
The U.S. government caps at 100 the number of Chinese citizens allowed to work in the United States for Chinese news outlets including Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation and Hai Tian Development, the People's Daily U.S. distributor.
February 19
China expels three Wall Street Journal reporters. Beijing says the move is punishment for an editorial in the newspaper with a headline deemed offensive.
February 18
The State Department designates Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Radio International, China Daily Distribution Corporation and Hai Tian Development USA as "foreign missions."
February 2
The U.S. implements restrictions on travelers from China, to try to stop the coronavirus from spreading.
January 30
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton notes in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Wuhan is home to "China's only biosafety level four super laboratory that works with the world's most deadly pathogens to include, yes, coronavirus." Cotton and others repeat the claim that the coronavirus originated in the lab in subsequent weeks, but it is eventually debunked by scientists.
January 27
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against travel to China.
January 23
China locks down Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province.
January 21
The first known U.S. case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Washington State.
January 15
The U.S. and China sign a "Phase One" trade deal aiming to end a year-and-a-half-long trade war marked by tit-for-tat tariffs and acrimony.
December 31
China tells the World Health Organization it's investigating an outbreak of an unknown viral pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
