military. here s marcus moore. reporter: tonight, beijing retaliating swiftly against the u.s. for closing china s consulate in houston, ordering washington to cease operations at its consulate in chengdu. china s foreign ministry calling the move, quote, a legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the united states. consulate workers in houston today scrambling to get out, packing u-hauls with garbage bags. shredded paper littering the ground. anonymous videos posted on social media days ago showing staff burning documents in the courtyard. we have done nothing wrong. we have just come here on the goodwill. reporter: a senior state official saying china directed, quote, malign and criminal activities from behind these towering walls, including advising nationals with alleged ties to china s military on how to evade detection in the 25 american cities where they lived. today, the fbi apprehending this chinese researcher, tang juan, who had sought refuge in