⁍ Security was tight outside the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday as staff inside prepared to leave.

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⁍ A day after China ordered it to close in response to a U.S. order for China to shut its consulate in Houston.

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⁍ The tit-for-tat consulate closures have brought a sharp deterioration in relations between the countries.

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– China’s foreign ministry says the US has “violated international and bilateral agreements and China will respond in accordance with the law,” the AP reports. China’s foreign ministry said Saturday that the US order to close its consulate in Houston and the closure of the consulate in Chengdu violated international and bilateral agreements. Reuters reports that security was tight outside the US consulate in Chengdu on Saturday as staff prepared to leave, a day after China ordered it to close in response to a US order for China to shut its consulate in Houston. The tit-for-tat consulate closures have brought a sharp deterioration in relations between the countries, which have the world’s two largest economies. Shortly after the Houston closure order took effect on Friday, a group of men who appeared to be US officials were seen forcing open a back door to the facility. China’s ministry of foreign affairs said on Saturday that violated international and bilateral agreements and China would respond, without elaborating how. In Chengdu, a US consulate emblem inside the compound was taken down and staff could be seen moving about. Three removal vans later entered the compound. Police gathered outside and closed off the street to traffic in the southwestern Chinese city. A steady stream of people walked along the street opposite the entrance throughout the day, many stopping to take photos or videos before police moved them on. Plain clothes officers detained a man who tried to hold up a sign. It was not clear what the sign said.