China refuses to commit to closing Houston consulate

[.Q.]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/23/china-refuses-commit-close-houston-consulate-380220
Kind of curious if it's possible for a consulate to remain after host country tells you to get out. Also, I'm amazed 72 hours is not enough to burn all your secrets.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/07/22/houston-chinese-consulate-us-evacuate-marquardt-lklv-lead-vpx.cnn

[Peacedog]

Burning documents takes a surprisingly long amount of time. Otherwise, you just end up with a bunch of partially burned paper that can actually put the fire out if you try to do too many at the same time. While loose paper can burn it really isn't designed too.

[.Q.]

Burning documents takes a surprisingly long amount of time. Otherwise, you just end up with a bunch of partially burned paper that can actually put the fire out if you try to do too many at the same time. While loose paper can burn it really isn't designed too.

72 hours though? That's a hell of a lot of paper. I'm also surprised they have those large oil cans to do this with. Who the hell keeps those around?

[Steve James]

I dunno. I'm not sure there'd be much evidence of illicit activities on paper in this day and age. There might be other things that take a bit longer to destroy or to build or finish, though. Oh well, we may never know.

[Peacedog]

Hardcopy is the ultimate security device. As you either need a picture of it or another copy to transmit it.

Most developing countries have shitty IT support at a government level. Private sector sucks up all the talent in a limited talent pool. Plus software is a real problem if you want to avoid Windows or an Apple product. It’s an even bigger problem if you want to avoid a Western made product.

For anything mid-tech, or higher, the rest of the world is a free rider on the West. So if they want to stay secure, hardcopy it is.

[.Q.]

Hardcopy is the ultimate security device. As you either need a picture of it or another copy to transmit it.

Most developing countries have shitty IT support at a government level. Private sector sucks up all the talent in a limited talent pool. Plus software is a real problem if you want to avoid Windows or an Apple product. It’s an even bigger problem if you want to avoid a Western made product.

For anything mid-tech, or higher, the rest of the world is a free rider on the West. So if they want to stay secure, hardcopy it is.

You'd figure they could've just scanned the docs and store them in an air-gapped machine (no network/wifi). I do recall technically it's possible to scan people's monitors over the air but I imagine it's pretty easy to cause interference to that (learned about it from Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon). Alas, we will probably never know.

[Steve James]

Granted the advantages of a physical copy that can be destroyed. I think that's true for many types of files that are meant to be kept confidential, but verifiable. That's the problem here, though. There are never going to be that many files or copies to destroy, and the officials would know that. So, I don't doubt that they're burning lots of documents. But, I think they're documents and files that they simply don't want the US to get, not because they confirm secret activities. Hacking activities and other digital crimes would have a very small textual footprint. Just a guess, though.

[.Q.]

An ex-employee of the Houston consulate discussing why the consulate didn't want to close in 72 hours. It wasn't because they didn't have time to burn documents. They have Chinese built communication devices that are too large to take back and they need time to destroy.

[Trick]

An ex-employee of the Houston consulate discussing why the consulate didn't want to close in 72 hours. It wasn't because they didn't have time to burn documents. They have Chinese built communication devices that are too large to take back and they need time to destroy.

So the US hoped to steal chinese technology, wouldn’t surprise me.....

[Bao]

What kind of communication device? Teleportation?

[Trick]

What kind of communication device? Teleportation?

its in huston...........the US(nasa) need technology so to be able to actually go to the moon to pland the stars and stripes on that surface...walkie talkies and tinfoil covered "space"crafts wont do anymore...

[Bill]

The truth is they had the world's largest collection of Winnie the Pooh art figurines that took a while to destroy.

[Steve James]

The truth is they had the world's largest collection of Winnie the Pooh art figurines that took a while to destroy.

Imo, you're right. A "Winnie the Poor art figurine" is a good metaphor for something they have that we have no clue about. But, it also works for the idea that it's a "macguffin." I.e., something that has nothing to do with the real story, just a device to draw one's attention away from something else.

[.Q.]

So, according to China's reporting, US forcefully broke into the consulate. They don't mention the fact it was after the deadline and their people already cleared out and purposely locked the front gate with a padlock.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV17v411v7Dq

[Trick]

So, according to China's reporting, US forcefully broke into the consulate. They don't mention the fact it was after the deadline and their people already cleared out and purposely locked the front gate with a padlock.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV17v411v7Dq

So the landlord called the FBI instead for the locksmith......