US Sec. of State Pompeo accuses China of playing ‘rogue actor’ around world

Addressing Copenhagen Democracy Summit early Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of behaving as a “rogue actor”, as he blamed Beijing for escalating border tensions with India.

Key quotes

“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army of China) has escalated border tensions — we see it today in India, the world’s most popular, populous democracy.”

“And we watch as it militarizes the South China Sea and illegally claims more territory there, threatening vital sea lanes, a promise they broke again.”

“For many years, the West, in an era of hope, believed we could change the Chinese Communist Party and improve the lives of the Chinese people along the way. That was the bargain. That was the bet … Over decades, Americans and European companies invested in China with enormous optimism.”

“We’ve had Republican presidents, Democrat presidents who simply allowed China to have deeply nonreciprocal relationships, not just on trade — which of course is true — but we responded to their military, use of military force, by moving back. We responded to their use of diplomatic coercion via retreating.”

“Donald Trump is not going to permit that, and we made that clear.”  

These comments come before President Trump’s interview with Axios, where the American leader said that he held off from imposing Treasury sanctions against Chinese officials’ involvement in the Xinjiang mass detention camps, as that would have jeopardized his trade deal with Beijing.

Separately, Livesquawk reported earlier today that US has reportedly rejected Chinese airlines’ requests to add weekly flights on the grounds of maintaining parity, which emerges as the latest point of disagreement amid fraught bilateral relations.