FBI: Fire likely criminal act, not terrorism related

A deputy spokesperson for the US State Department says the government is closely watching the investigation into Wednesday's arson attack on the Chinese consulate general in San Francisco.

"The United States is deeply concerned by report the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco was damaged after being targeted by an arsonist on Wednesday, January 1st.
We take this incident very seriously.

And the Bureau of the Diplomatic Security is working with the FBI and local authorities to investigate and apprehend the perpetrators." said Mary Harf, dpty. spokesperson of US
State Department.

"Why couldn't this incident be prevented from happening?
So was there a lack of enough security protection to the Chinese consulate from the US government?" CCTV reporter Wang Hui said.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a
probe into the incident. So far no suspects have been identified or taken into custody. Initial evidence indicates the fire was fuelled by gasoline, and no explosive material
was found at the scene.

Special agent David Johnson, who is in charge of the FBI's San Francisco division, said the incident was most likely a criminal matter, rather than a national security one. The Chinese consulate building was re-opened on Thursday.