US secretary of state warns China to ‘behave like a normal nation on commerce’
- Mike Pompeo cites aviation spy case and sanctions against chip maker as ‘part of a mosaic of our strategic effort to push back’ against Beijing
- Pompeo said theft of US intellectual property by China ‘is a story that’s been going on for years’
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned China to “behave like a normal nation” following the federal indictment of 10 alleged Chinese spies for trying to steal American aviation technology and the sanctioning of a chip maker suspected of threatening US national security.
Reiterating a list of complaints against Beijing that the administration of President Donald Trump has made public, Pompeo said the recent legal action against Chinese agents for purportedly trying to acquire aviation technology was “part of a mosaic of our strategic effort to push back against” China.
Zhang Zhexin, a US affairs expert at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said Pompeo’s remark signalled the Trump administration’s urgent need to push China.
“Pompeo’s words represent nothing but the hardline stance of Donald Trump. It may represent Trump’s intention to reach an early solution with China, possibly in November, by pressuring Beijing,” Zhang said.
“This may mean the US also feels some sense of urgency, just like China … But no party is likely to completely give in. Compromise may be made between two great powers.”
Yuan Zheng, a Sino-US affairs expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the US government was hardening its position on China, and Beijing would respond.