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It's purely symbolic. A lease is still a contract between 2 parties. If one or both cease to exist so goes the lease.

That may not always be the case. It's not like Castro was a big fan of Guantanamo Bay...

Great point. The final arbitrator of all contracts is the threat of violence. If you can't back it up, it doesn't matter what the contract says.

Also the Mexican land grants in California. The US still respects the terms of those agreements.

Eminent domain exists and is frequently used in China (as in the US). Do the terms of this lease somehow exempt the US consulate from it?

They are saying that the nature of the party (global superpower) is the final exemption criteria for every kind of obligation if you play that card.