Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an international coalition to control China, criticizing the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, aggressive movements in the South China Sea, and the crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong.
Pompeo said that as the world struggles to manage the coronavirus that has infected more than 14 million people worldwide, Chinese President Xi Jinping is taking advantage of the crisis to advance the country’s interests.
“We have seen Hong Kong’s freedoms crushed. We have seen the CCP intimidate its neighbors, militarize features in the South China Sea and instigate a deadly confrontation with India, “Pompeo said Tuesday during a press conference with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in London.
Pompeo said that he and Raab want all nations “to work against that kind of activity.”
“We want all nations to work together to reject the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party in all dimensions that I described to you today,” he said.
“Includes all countries. We hope to build a coalition that understands this threat, that works collectively to convince the Chinese Communist Party that it is not in their interest to engage in this type of behavior, “added Pompeo.
Pompeo personally singled out Xi for using the coronavirus pandemic as cover to pursue the ambitions of the Communist Party.
“Of course, we start with the challenge presented by the Chinese Communist Party and the COVID-19 virus that originated in Wuhan, China,” he said. “Exploiting the CCP from this disaster to advance its own interests has been shameful. Rather than helping the world, Secretary General Xi has shown the world the true face of the party. “
Last week, Attorney General William Barr made similar comments, calling on the United States and the free world to mount a collective response against the global influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
“How the United States responds to this challenge will have historical implications and will determine whether the United States and its liberal democratic allies will continue to shape their own destiny or whether the CCP and its autocratic tributaries will control the future,” Barr said during a speech at the Museum. Presidential Gerald R. Ford in Grand Rapids, Mich., On Thursday.
“The CCP has launched an orchestrated campaign, through all its tentacles in the Chinese government and society, to exploit the openness of our institutions to destroy them. To secure a world of freedom and prosperity for our children and grandchildren, the free world will need its own version of the whole society approach, in which the public and private sectors maintain their essential separation but work together collaboratively to resist domination and to win the contest for the dominant heights of the global economy. “
The Trump administration criticized Beijing for minimizing the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, leaving the rest of the world unprepared for its deadly attack.
President Trump has also called on China for failing to accurately report the number of cases in the country and using its influence with the World Health Organization to minimize the crisis.
The Justice Department revealed charges Tuesday against two Chinese hackers who it says attempted to steal the coronavirus investigation from government agencies and private companies.
The two men, according to the indictment, worked with the Chinese Ministry of State Security and the Guangdong Department of State Security to carry out a “global computer intrusion campaign,” it said in a statement.
The United States also ordered China to close its consulate in Houston.
“We have directed the closure of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and the private information of Americans,” said US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus in a statement on Wednesday.
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