Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns that China has infiltrated America and is ‘targeting individual US states’
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a Chinese government-backed think tank has assessed all 50 governors on their attitudes toward China
The think tank then assigned each one a label: ‘friendly, hard-line or ambiguous’
‘It’s happening in your states with consequences for our foreign policy, for the citizens who reside in your states and indeed for each of you,’ he said
Pompeo urged the governors to be wary of Chinese investment and influence, including through contacts with Chinese diplomats, students and organizations
He has conveyed similar warnings on a recent five-nation tour of Europe and Central Asia
During a stop in London, he declared the Chinese Communist Party ‘the central threat of our times’
JAMES GORDON
DAILYMAIL.COM
9 February 2020
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that Beijing has assessed all 50 governors on their attitudes toward China.
Pompeo’s warning comes as he urged US governors to resist Chinese pressure to shun Taiwain as the two countries engage in a diplomatic battle.
In an address to state leaders gathered in Washington, Pompeo said that President Donald Trump’s administration would step up communication with state and local governments about dealing with China.
‘Don’t make separate individual deals and agreements with China that undermine our national policy,’ Pompeo urged.
‘I know none of you would do so intentionally. Let us help you make sure we’re getting it right.’
Pompeo said in a speech to the National Governors Association in Washington that China was pursuing a policy of exploiting U.S. freedoms to ‘gain advantage over us at the federal level, the state level and the local level’.
‘When it comes to doing business, I’m asking you to adopt a cautious mindset. In the words of President Reagan, when you are approached for introduction or a connection to a deal, ‘trust but verify’,’ he told the governors representing the 55 U.S. states and territories.
He said a Chinese government-backed think tank has assessed all 50 governors on their attitude toward China and assigned each one a label: ‘friendly, hard-line or ambiguous.’
‘So here’s the lesson. The lesson is the competition with China is not just a federal issue,’ Pompeo said in addressing the National Governors Association meeting in Washington.
‘It’s happening in your states with consequences for our foreign policy, for the citizens who reside in your states and indeed for each of you,’ he said.
Pompeo pointed to a threat last year sent to Mississippi’s governor that China would cancel investment over his visit to Taiwan.
He also cited a letter by a Chinese diplomat urging state governments not to congratulate Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on her re-election last month and a case in which a high school in Chicago withdrew an invitation to a Taiwanese representative to take part in a climate discussion.
‘It’s one thing to pressure the secretary of state of the United States of America. It seems quite something else to go after a high school principal,’ Pompeo said.
‘It shows depth. It shows systematization. It shows intent,’ Pompeo said.
‘While these might seem like local matters to some, the cumulative effect is of enormous national importance and international significance,’ he said.
China considers Taiwan, a self-governing democracy where the mainland’s defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be a territory awaiting reunification.
The United States, like most countries, only recognizes Beijing but the Trump administration has been increasingly vocal in backing Taiwan’s right to participate in international bodies and maintain diplomatic relations with other countries.
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