Pompeo Brands China 'Central Threat of Our Times'

The Trump administration has repeatedly referred to the alleged challenge posed by China to US military supremacy in recent years, ramping up the standoff in the East and South China Seas, and starting a trade war which Washington says is aimed at ending Beijing's alleged unfair trade practices.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has characterized the alleged challenge to the West posed by China as the 'central threat of our times', noting that the agenda of that country's ruling Communist Party was 'not consistent' with US values.

Speaking at a conference in London on Thursday alongside UK Foreign Affairs Secretary Dominic Raab, Pompeo warned that while China presented enormous economic opportunities for Western business, its rulers have "made it clear" that they do not share Western values on everything from technology and world trade to infrastructure and military capabilities.

"While we still have to be enormously vigilant about terror...the Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times," Pompeo said. According to the diplomat, Western countries must do everything necessary to "ensure the next century is governed" by Western principles, and that Western-style democracy can "remain the predominant model" of world governance.

Commenting on the ongoing US pressure against European allies regarding Chinese technology giant Huawei, Pompeo suggested that in the UK, the company is threatening national security. "This is not about a technical back door. They have the front door," he warned.

Expressing deep "confidence" in the "historic" US-UK relationship, Pompeo also took aim at other US adversaries, including Iran and Russia, slamming what he called Moscow's "aggression undertaken over the last handful of years," and praising US moves to freeze Iranian assets and deny the country sources of income as a way to force Tehran to 'make difficult decisions'.


Sputnik

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