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Chinese Consulate in San Francisco (23 July 2020)

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Mr. tang will continue to be held because of the possibility of absconding, but her lawer can offer bail conditions, says ms. barnes (Deborah Barnes), an eastern california federal agency.

Tang Juan's first trial (preliminary hearing) is scheduled for August 10 th.

Tang was charged with visa fraud on June 26, allegedly concealing her military status to obtain a J-1 visiting scholar visa to the University of California, Davis, for radiation oncology research.

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According to the FBI, Tang went to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco to seek asylum after being questioned and searched, and never came out. He left the consulate last Friday and was authorities arrest, detained in Sacramento County Prison.

"I guess they gave up Tang Juan as a signal to the United States that they wanted to put an end to the tooth-for-tooth closure of diplomatic sites ," said Gordon Chang. "

The United States ordered China to close the Consulate General in Houston by 4 p.m. Friday Wednesday. Secretary of State Pompeo said in a speech Thursday ," Because it is the center of espionage and intellectual property theft. Beijing announced Friday that it would close the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu in retaliation for saying it "engages in activities that do not conform to its identity, interfere in China's internal affairs and harm China's security interests ," and that the two sides relationship further escalate tensions.

U.S. Think Tank Rand Corporation senior international defense researcher He Tianmu (Timothy Heath), Tang Juan's arrest is an unfortunate sign of growing tension between the United States and China relationship. The trend, he told VOA, shows that the U.S. government is willing to take a tougher hit on Chinese agents than ever.

"It is not clear whether the new hardline approach is more effective than the previous approach that combines restrictions with dialogue ," he added. China seems to regard the US action as provocative and generally retaliated. I expect China to continue retaliating, but in a restrained manner, perhaps hoping that the US will government moderate. China may also be watching whether Trump will win an election or whether a new president will change the direction of its policy toward China. "

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VOA journalist Mo Yu also contributed to this report.