Mystery substance sent to US Consulate in Chinese city of Guangzhou

April 29, 2012: A Chinese paramilitary police officer stands guard at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing where escaped activist Chen Guangcheng is said to be under the protection of American officials. (AP)

BEIJING – U.S. officials say an envelope containing an unidentified substance was sent to the U.S. Consulate General in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, disrupting operations at the diplomatic building.

Deputy spokesman Justin Higgins at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing says the envelope was opened Monday in an office where visa interviews are conducted. Higgins says interviews scheduled for Tuesday have been cancelled while an investigation is carried out.

He says no one was injured and that precautionary measures have been taken for employees present when the substance was discovered. He would not describe the substance, which he says has yet to be identified.

The website of Guangzhou's Yangcheng Evening News reported that the substance was a powder and that it had sprinkled onto an employee's clothes.