In the first half of 2020, if there is one country that has unequivocally invited the wrath of nearly the whole of planet, then it is none other than the People’s Republic of China. The Coronavirus pandemic has opened the Pandora’s box of collective animosity against Beijing and the way it goes about its business. Of the many China hawks in the world, there is one that has particularly destroyed China’s case, and that is Trump administration’s Mike Pompeo.
From colluding with WHO to hide the severity of virus to locking horns with nearly every major country in all directions, China is treading on thin ice. The US-China relations which looked getting back on track after the first phase of the trade deal has plummeted to new lows. And there is one man that has been the forefront of these proceedings, and no, it’s not Donald Trump, although to be fair he has been at Dragon’s tail for quite some time but not more than Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the last 4-5 months.
The Chinese media has been so miffed that it has run out of adjectives to describe Pompeo. ‘A cheerleader of hatred’ ‘lost his mind’ He spouts ‘‘lies and fallacies,’ are some of the phrases routinely used by the Chinese media and mouth-pieces to smack-talk Pompeo.
The editor of Global Times, the same Editor which had compared Australia to a ‘chewing gum’ has been routinely throwing a hissy fit at the American Secretary of State.
Pompeo is lecturing and threatening Europe. Washington is excessively suppressing China and asking Europe to choose sides. It's only to maintain its hegemony, not for the common interests of the West. In fact, he is cutting and throwing away Europe’s interests like apple peels. pic.twitter.com/sG8w1RJq17
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) June 20, 2020
According to a report in Boston Globe, the red-authoritarian regime took his hatred for Pompeo to new levels this week when it singled out Pompeo in a remarkable, extended segment during the state broadcaster’s evening newscast.
“The world needs to be vigilant against the erosion to human peace caused by Pompeo, which is like that of a worm,” an anchor told hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers through the state-owned TV channel.
Mike Pompeo—the Dragon Slayer!
A former United States Army officer and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), since assuming the post of Secretary of State, two years ago, Pompeo has been on an overdrive to take on the CCP whenever he can. He has lodged attacks against China on a variety of matters from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the atrocities on Uighur Muslims.
On Friday, Mike Pompeo had called China a ‘rogue’ nation after it had attacked the Indian borders. “The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has escalated border tensions with India, the world’s most populous democracy. It’s militarising the South China Sea and illegally claiming more territory there, threatening vital sea lanes,” he had said.
The Muslim minorities in China and their inhumane treatment
Pompeo also singled out China’s appalling and inhuman treatment of the Uighur Muslims that have been put in concentration camps and subjected to unspeakable acts of torture in the Xinjiang province.
“General Secretary Xi Jinping has greenlighted a brutal campaign of repression against Chinese Muslims, a human rights violation on a scale we haven’t seen since World War II.” said Pompeo.
Mike Pompeo in his visit to Vatican City last year had also blasted China for its treatment of over a million Uighur Muslims saying, “When the state rules absolutely, God becomes an absolute threat to authority, That’s why China has put more than one million Uighur Muslims … in internment camps and is why it throws Christian pastors in jail”
Pompeo meets Tiananmen Square massacre survivors
Pompeo has been at the forefront in irking China. On the 31st anniversary of the horrific Tiananmen Square massacre, the US Secretary of State had met with the survivors of the incident in Washington DC.
Although the State Department offered no details on what was discussed but said in a statement, “We mourn the victims of June 4, 1989, and we stand with the people of China who continue to aspire to a government that protects human rights, fundamental freedoms, and basic human dignity.”
He even tweeted when the annual vigil in Hong Kong was banned, partly due to COVID-19 and partly because of Beijing’s pressure.
It starts; so soon. For the first time in 30 years, Hong Kong authorities denied permission to hold the #TiananmenVigil. If there is any doubt about Beijing’s intent, it is to deny Hong Kongers a voice and a choice, making them the same as mainlanders. So much for two systems.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 2, 2020
Choking the Chinese Companies in the American Stock exchange—A Pompeo move
The USA is not stopping from landing incessant sucker-punches on the dragon. In the long list of counter-measures that have been initiated against China in the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also warned American investors against “fraudulent” accounting practices of Chinese companies.
Pompeo had also announced that countries around the world shall follow NASDAQ’s recent decision to tighten listing rule for Chinese companies in the stock exchange.
US and especially Pompeo have been routinely reminding China that if it didn’t honour the first phase of Trade deal then the repercussions could be severe.
During my meeting with CCP Politburo Member Yang Jiechi, he recommitted to completing and honoring all of the obligations of Phase 1 of the trade deal between our two countries. pic.twitter.com/YJmBTUmuQ9
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 18, 2020
Mike Pompeo also announced in late May that the State Department no longer considered Hong Kong to have significant autonomy under Chinese rule after Beijing introduced the controversial National Security Bill which is in violation of the Sino-Britain Joint Declaration of 1984.
All these criticisms and scathing observations by Mike Pompeo prove that he is indeed touching China’s weak spots. Beijing is so rattled by Pompeo that it had recently unleashed its bot army on twitter to target him. However, no love has been lost from Pompeo’s side who is more than ever, raring to go against China and its contemptible policies.
