US Secretary of State says ‘tide has turned’ and the world increasingly regards China as a threat
- ‘The world has wakened,’ Mike Pompeo says, assailing Beijing’s governance, economic system, espionage activities and handling of the pandemic
- His remarks, some say, contribute to a growing risk of a misstep as communication between the two nations falters
A growing number of people internationally are recognising China’s selfishness and bid for global dominance, leading more countries to side with Washington’s view of the world over Beijing’s, America’s top diplomat said Tuesday.
In recent months, as relations between the two superpowers have imploded, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – known as the Trump administration’s “attack dog” on China – has stepped up his verbal salvoes at Beijing’s governance, state-led economic system, espionage activities and handling of the pandemic.
“The world has wakened and my view is that the tide has turned,” Pompeo told the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank in Washington. “I think these are powerful shifts in the world view of the threat from the Chinese Communist Party.”
Even as the Trump administration has belatedly vied for global hearts and minds, it’s been accused of squandering one of its greatest assets: America’s history of working closely with allies in addressing shared frustrations with Beijing, including intellectual property theft; forced technology transfer; unbalanced trade; and island building in the contested South China Sea.
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According to the Soft Power 30 index – which tracks countries’ use of persuasion rather than coercion in achieving objectives – the US fell to fifth place globally in 2019, the latest data, down from third place in 2017 when Donald Trump became president.