SARS fuels close of China consulates
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2003 2:27 pm
April 3 — The United States plans to reduce its diplomatic presence at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and all consulates in China because of the deadly flulike illness sweeping the country, officials said Thursday. The news came as a team of medical researchers arrived in China’s southern province of Guangdong to conduct the first international inspection of the area thought to have spawned the disease.