China will shut down United States consulates in Shanghai or Hong Kong if Washington continues to escalate diplomatic tensions, warned Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of China’s Communist Party-run tabloid Global Times.

The U.S. was “clearly preparing for new provocative actions,” Hu tweeted on Saturday.

“Let me remind them: If they expel Chinese diplomats, the same number of US diplomats will be expelled from China. If the US closes the Chinese Consulate in New York, the US consulate in Shanghai or Hong Kong must be closed,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier accused China of using its New York consulate as an espionage hub, after a New York police officer was arrested and charged with spying for Beijing.

“They’re engaged in activities where they’re crossing the line from normal diplomacy to the kinds of things that would be more akin to what spies are doing,” Pompeo told the New York Post on Thursday.

More Chinese agents will likely be arrested, Pompeo said, adding that the U.S. government is also scrutinizing the contingent of Chinese diplomats working at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The U.S. closed China’s consulate in Houston in July because it was used to “engage in espionage,” Pompeo added.

On Twitter, Hu accused Pompeo and U.S. President Donald Trump of “China bashing” to win votes, adding that Pompeo’s latest allegations showed that Trump’s reelection campaign must be “very bumpy.”

The Chinese Consulate General in New York denounced Pompeo’s allegations as “vicious slander” and denied any espionage had taken place.

“The Chinese Consulate General in New York always acts in accordance with international law and bilateral agreements between China and the U.S. and has been promoting mutual understanding, cooperation and friendship between the two countries,” a spokesperson said.

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