US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo czechia

Petr Dubinsky

Beijing Slams Pompeo Over ‘China Threat’ Remarks

China rebuked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks before the Czech senate calling it an unjust attack that denigrates China and incites disagreements between other countries and China. According to the Chinese embassy in Prague, Pompeo’s statements are full of ideological prejudices and ideas from the Cold War.

After meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Pompeo stated, among other things, that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to destroy Western democracies and break the Western alliance. In the Senate, he described China as a more serious threat than Russia. “What’s happening now isn’t Cold War 2.0. The challenge of resisting the CCP threat is in some ways worse,” Pompeo said. He also praised the chairman of the upper house, Miloš Vystrčil, planned trip to Taiwan. Pompeo warned that a partnership with Russian and Chinese state-owned companies in the construction of a new nuclear unit in Dukovany would weaken Czech national security and sovereignty.

“In the name of democracy and freedom, Mike Pompeo unjustifiably attacks and denigrates China, seeks to bring all existing problems to China and deliberately incites disagreements between other countries and China. His words and actions are full of ideological prejudices and Cold War ideas against today’s trend, “said an embassy spokesman. He described Pompeo’s statements against China as dubious and unjustified.

“As the Czech proverb says: ‘Whoever digs another pit, falls into it himself!’ We urge the US Secretary of State to respect historical facts, international law, and the basic rules of international relations, to act in accordance with the interests of both China and the US, and the common interests of the people around the world. China and undermine the solidarity and cooperation of the international community,” he added.

Pompeo began his visit to the Czech Republic on Tuesday in Pilsen, where, in addition to negotiations with his counterpart Tomáš Petříček, he paid tribute to American soldiers who liberated the western part of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War II. Yesterday he met with Babiš, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Transport Karel Havlíček and Lubomír Metnar in Kramář’s Villa, then spoke in the Senate, where he also took part in brief debates with members of the upper house. The last official item on his agenda was a meeting with President Miloš Zeman, in which Babiš also took part.