United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered unwavering criticism of the Chinese Communist Party while visiting London on Tuesday, describing the behavior of leaders regarding the coronavirus pandemic as unforgivable and criticizing “the crushing of freedoms” in Hong Kong.
Pompeo said he had “sincere” talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab amid mounting tensions between the West and China. By a wide margin, he challenged all nations that “understand freedom and democracy and value that” to understand the threat posed by China’s ruling party.
“We hope we can build a coalition that understands this,” he said.
The session came just hours after Britain suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and blocked arms sales to the former British territory, infuriating Beijing, after China imposed a new national security law.
Britain followed the US, Australia, and Canada by suspending extradition agreements with Hong Kong, which became a special administrative region of China after the United Kingdom returned control of the territory to Beijing in 1997.
China’s ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, warned on Twitter that the UK should “bear the consequences of damaging bilateral relations.” He described the new measure as serious interference by the United Kingdom in Chinese internal affairs.
Pompeo described his talks in London as “constructive” and ranging “from 5G telecommunications to our negotiations for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Pompeo also met with senior members of Johnson’s Conservative Party, who blocked plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a role in the UK’s new high-speed mobile phone network.
The United States has pressured its allies to avoid Huawei because it says the Chinese government could use the company’s technology to spy on Western nations. Huawei denies the allegations and argues that American protectionism is behind the measure.
Events in Hong Kong are particularly sensitive to Britain because China agreed to a “one country, two systems” policy aimed at protecting the economic and social traditions of the territory for 50 years after the handover.
Britain and its allies believe that the security law imposed by Beijing threatens that deal because it restricts freedom of expression and erodes Hong Kong’s judicial independence. The law provides that crimes such as the promotion of secession are punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison. It also allows some cases to be tried on the Chinese mainland, meaning that those extradited to Hong Kong could end up being tried in the mainland courts.
The United Kingdom has already accused the Beijing government of violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration under which Hong Kong was returned to China, and announced that it would open a special route to citizenship for up to three million eligible residents of the territory.
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