US Secretary of State calls on ‘free world’ to unite against China
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on other nations to join America and “triumph” over the “tyranny” of the Chinese Communist Party.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on the free world to rise up against a “new tyranny” from China.
Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, Mr Pompeo warned that if other nations didn’t push back against Communist China then it would “change” the free world.
“Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else,” he said.
“If the free world doesn’t change Communist China, Communist China will change us.”
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He cited Australia as one of the nations who were “awakening” to the true nature of the Chinese government.
“I have faith because of the awakening I see among other nations that know we cannot go back to the past. I’ve heard this from Brussels, to Sydney, to Hanoi,” he said.
In his strongly worded speech, Mr Pompeo criticised US companies and previous government administrations for being too complacent with China, saying “the old paradigm of blind engagement” had failed.
“We must not continue it. We must not return to it. The free world must triumph over this new tyranny,” he said.
“Let’s not repeat the same mistakes of the past. The challenge of China demands exertion from democracies … those in Europe, in Africa, in South America and especially those in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Mr Pompeo’s speech came just days after the US demanded the Chinese Consulate in Houston be shut down, with the Secretary of State saying the decision was made because “it was a hub of spying and IP theft”.
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“China ripped off our prized intellectual property and trade secrets, costing millions of jobs across America.”
On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the consulate action an “outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage China-US relations”.
Mr Pompeo’s speech marked a new level in the hard-line approach toward China by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
It was the fourth in a series of major policy speeches by top administration officials, including White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, FBI director Chris Wray and Attorney-General Bill Barr, each of whom focused on one facet of the alleged China threat in ideology, espionage and commerce.
Mr Pompeo claimed Beijing had broken international commitments on Hong Kong’s autonomy, on the South China Sea and on stopping state-backed intellectual property threats.
He also blasted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for not being forthcoming with information in the early days of the COVID-18 pandemic, which has now killed more than 632,000 people worldwide.
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“We imagined engagement with China would produce a future bright with the promise of comity and co-operation,” Mr Pompeo said.
“But today we sit wearing masks and watching the pandemic’s body count rise because the CCP failed in its promises to the world … reading new headlines of repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang … seeing staggering statistics of Chinese trade abuses that cost American jobs and strike blows to our companies … watching the Chinese military grow stronger and more menacing.”
In a very direct attack, Mr Pompeo accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of being a “true believer” in the “bankrupt” totalitarian Marxist-Leninist ideology.
“His ideology informs his decades-long desire for global hegemony built on Chinese Communism,” he said.
Mr Pompeo said the “free world” can no longer ignore the fundamental political and ideological differences it has with China, “just as the CCP has never ignored them”.
– with AFP
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