新闻来源：《华盛顿观察家报》；作者：Tom Rogan；发布时间：July 22, 2020 / 2020年7月22日

翻译/简评：毛毛猫猫；校对：孙行者；审核：InAHurry；Page：拱卒

简评：

中国有句老话，“多行不义必自毙”。一国驻外使领馆的主要职责，应该是为该国海外居民提供领事服务。 但根据参议员情报委员会主席卢比奥所述， 中共国休斯敦领事馆是一个大规模间谍行动中心。它实际上已经沦为中共对美国进行政治宣传，经济侵略，文化渗透和军事间谍活动的桥头堡。正如美国国务院发言人摩根所说的那样，美国决不能容忍中共国侵犯我国主权和恐吓我们人民的行为。美国关闭中共休斯敦领事馆正是为了打击中共猖獗的间谍活动，保护美国国家安全，保护知识产权，保护美国民众私人信息的所采取的正义行动。

原文翻译：

Why the US ordered China's Houston consulate closed

美国为何下令关闭中共国休斯顿领事馆

The State Department ordered closed China's Houston consulate in response to Beijing's use of that consulate for highly aggressive espionage efforts against U.S. intellectual property and American citizens of Chinese ancestry.

美国国务院下令关闭中共国在美国休斯顿的领事馆，以回应北京利用该领事馆对美国知识产权和华裔美国公民进行的疯狂的间谍活动。

The key concern was China's Ministry of State Security's use of the Houston consulate as a key operations station for south-central and West Coast espionage operations. As I understand it, the Houston station is connected to the indictment on Tuesday of two MSS officers for cyberespionage against American intellectual property targets and coronavirus vaccine research. The Houston station was very likely used as a targeting center to gather intelligence for cyberattack teams on the Chinese mainland.

关键问题是：长期以来，中共国的国安部将其休斯敦领事馆作为了在美国中南部和西海岸间谍活动的主要行动站。据我了解，休斯敦中领馆与周二两名中共国安部官员因对美国知识产权目标和冠状病毒疫苗研究进行网络间谍活动而被起诉有关。休斯顿中领馆极有可能被用作是目标中心，为中共国大陆的网络黑客攻击团队收集情报。

So what has the MSS been doing, specifically, out of Houston?

那么，中共国安部一直在做什么呢，特别是在休斯顿以外的地方？

Well, MSS officers have been using the consulate as a base to receive and pursue taskings in relation to Beijing's top espionage priorities. These have included a focus on penetrating the defense and tech sectors in Houston and in the so-called Silicon Hills area of Austin. But China's Houston station has also been used to track and harass U.S. citizens who China believes owe loyalty to the Communist Party regime. Some of this MSS activity has involved very aggressive face-to-face confrontations and threats of a degree that makes even the Russian intelligence services' activity on U.S. soil look mild. To be clear, it crosses general red lines on the conduct of intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover.

中共国安部官员一直以其领事馆为基地，接收和执行与来自北京的最优先，最高级的间谍活动有关的任务。这些任务包括专注于渗透休斯顿和所谓的奥斯丁“硅山”地区的国防和科技区域。但同时，休斯顿的中领馆也被用来追踪和骚扰被中共认为本应忠于共产党政权的一些美国公民。中共国安部在这一地区的某些活动涉及非常激烈的面对面冲突和某种程度的威胁，其程度甚至让俄罗斯情报部门在美国领土上的活动看起来很温和。需要明确的是，尽管有外交做为掩护，它们的做法也越过了情报人员行为准则的一般性红线。

The closure is also about ensuring that the U.S. government can more effectively constrain China's espionage operations on U.S. soil. While U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers stationed in China are persistently monitored by a significant Chinese technical and large, human surveillance effort, the same cannot be said of Chinese officers on U.S. soil. That's because the FBI, which has responsibility for monitoring foreign intelligence officers, lacks the counterintelligence profile to monitor all spies at all times. The best the FBI can do is prioritize its efforts and deploy its agents and surveillance teams in that vein. Closing the consulate means that the FBI will have more resources to free up against other top MSS stations. Most notably, those based out of the Washington, D.C., embassy and China's consulate in San Francisco.

此次关闭还旨在确保美国政府可以更有效地限制中共国在美国领土上的间谍活动。虽然驻扎在中共国的美国外交官和情报官一直受到中共国的大规模技术和人员的持续监视，但对于驻扎在美国的中共国相关人员，美国却不能做出对等的举动。这是因为负责监视外国情报人员的FBI缺乏足够多的反情报资料来持续监视所有的间谍。联邦调查局能做的最好的方案是将工作重点放在优先位置，并按照这种方式部署其特工和监视小组。关闭休士顿中领馆意味着FBI将有更多资源来监控其他的中共国安部在美的顶级活动站。最应该被关注的就是那些驻扎在华盛顿的大使馆和中共国驻旧金山领事馆的人员。

The broader context also matters greatly.

更广泛的背景调查非常重要。

At present, the Trump administration is engaged in a steady effort to escalate the pressure on Beijing. This includes escalating naval exercises in the South China Sea, Justice Department warnings of Chinese influence campaigns, and President Trump's return to blaming the coronavirus pandemic on China. But with China promising to retaliate against its consulate closure, tensions are only heading upward.

目前，川普政府正在不懈努力，以加大对北京当局的压力。这包括在南中国海的海军演习的升级，司法部对中共国势力运动的警告以及川普总统重新将冠状病毒大流行归咎于中共国。但是，随着中共国承诺对关闭其领事馆的行为将进行报复，紧张局势只会越演越烈。

编辑：【喜马拉雅战鹰团】Edited by：【Himalaya Hawk Squad】