Pompeo’s remarks at the Nixon Library on Thursday, titled “Communist China and the Future of the Free World,” sparked rumors about Beijing and its relations with the United States, nearly 50 years after President Richard Nixon became the first president of the United States to travel to China.
“We must admit our truth that it should guide us in the years and decades to come, that if we want to have a free 21st century and not the Chinese century that Xi Jinping dreams of, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won ‘Don’t do it’ He said, “We must not continue it and we must not return to it.”
Apparently, he launched the competition between the United States and China as a modern Cold War and said that “ensuring our freedoms of the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time and the United States is perfectly positioned to lead it.”
‘Mass theft’
“We are still operating normally today, so we will see what will happen tomorrow,” he told the news outlet, but gave no further details.
Chinese authorities have urged the United States to reverse its decision and have threatened retaliation.
State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus said “they had to make the decision to close this consulate because of this massive and massive theft of our research and our intellectual property.”
“We have discovered spy rings,” he said in an interview with “Quest Means Business” on Thursday.
“But most importantly, I think what has worried us a lot is the theft of research from our universities, our hospitals, the theft of intellectual property, the theft of technology companies. So the FBI and the Department of Justice have started to state the case and show the facts again, “he said.
A seven-page document prepared by US law enforcement officials and shared among US government agencies Details examples of covert activities of the People’s Liberation Army in the US.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin denied the allegations that the consulate was the “epicenter” of illegal activities.
‘New tyranny’
Pompeo’s speech only made a small mention of the closure of the consulate. The top American diplomat focused on the broader tensions between the two countries, describing China as an insidious threat that has taken advantage of relations with democratic nations.
“As President Trump has made very clear, we need a strategy that protects the American economy and, in fact, our way of life. The free world must triumph over this new tyranny,” he said.
“The truth is that our policies, and those of other free nations, resurrected China’s bankrupt economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that fed it,” Pompeo continued. “We open our arms to Chinese citizens, only to see the Chinese Communist Party exploit our free and open society.”
While acknowledging the differences between China and the Soviet Union, Pompeo said China is repeating some of the same mistakes the Soviet Union made, such as alienating the allies and rejecting property rights and the rule of law. He called President Xi Jinping a “true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology.”
Pompeo called on the United States and its allies to work to “change China’s behavior.”
His speech was the fourth and culminating event in a series of administration comments against China. National security adviser Robert O’Brien, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Bill Barr made similar comments about the threat from Beijing.
CNN’s Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
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