China out to exploit US vulnerabilities at all levels, Mike Pompeo warns
- Beijing further embracing repression under Xi Jinping, Secretary of State says at meeting of US governors
- Speech comes after Pompeo took ‘beware of China’ message to Europe and Central Asia on recent trip
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a tough warning about China in a speech to US governors, urging caution in business dealings there as Beijing looks for ways to exploit US vulnerabilities at all levels.
The world’s second-largest economy is further embracing repression under President Xi Jinping, Pompeo said at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington.
“Competition with China is happening inside of your state and it affects our capacity to perform America’s vital national-security functions,” the top US diplomat said. “Competition with China is not just a federal issue.”
Pompeo said US engagement with China at the end of the Cold War was based on the assumption that it would turn toward becoming a liberal democracy.
“It didn’t happen,” Pompeo said. “Under Xi Jinping the country is moving exactly in the opposite direction: more repression, more unfair competition, more predatory economic practices, and indeed a more aggressive military posture as well.”
He added that those trends do not mean the countries cannot do business, citing the recent trade deal between China and the US.