Chinese Communist ambitions pose an existential threat to democratic societies, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a warning to European allies drawn to economic bargains with Beijing.
China is “flagrantly attacking European sovereignty by buying up ports and critical infrastructure, Piraeus to Valencia,” Pompeo told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. “We must take off the golden blinders of economic ties and see that the China challenge isn’t just at the gates; it’s in every capital, it’s in every borough, it’s in every province. Every investment from a Chinese state-owned enterprise should be viewed with suspicion.”
That threat operates in the realm of traditional strategic assets such as transportation infrastructure, as well as the more insidious ideological pressure, Pompeo said. He urged European allies to be wary of Chinese investment while rejecting the idea that American officials are steering Western powers into an unnecessary rivalry with China.
“It’s the Chinese Communist Party that’s forcing this choice … between freedom and tyranny, the party that wants to throw away the progress we in the free world have made, in NATO and other institutions, both formal and informal institutions, and adopt a new set of rules and norms to accommodate them in Beijing,” he said.
Pompeo also observed that “CCP propagandists” protect the regime from internal dissent by maintaining tight control over the internet. “And they won’t be satisfied until the digital firewall extends to our nations, too,” he said.
He issued that warning against a backdrop of long-running disputes between President Trump’s administration and European allies, as the transatlantic allies often take actions or issue statements that the other side regards as harmful to collective security. His remarks come just days after Trump’s surprise announcement that he will reduce the U.S. troop presence in Germany, a decision that was taken without consultation with allies or even senior Republican lawmakers.
Pompeo, who demurred when asked about the details of the future U.S. military presence in Europe, maintained that the final decision would account for both European security and the threats emanating from China.
“The United States does believe that it has a real responsibility to show that we have the capability and the capacity to challenge any threat that the Chinese Communist Party should make militarily to the United States of America,” he said. “So we are constantly thinking about how we engage, diplomatic, economic, and militarily, to meet that challenge.”
His public remarks took place two days after a rare meeting with a senior Chinese diplomat in Hawaii, at a time when Chinese military forces are conducting provocative fighter jet sorties near Taiwan and even attacking Indian troops in a disputed border region.
“Overall, given all the current circumstances with the relationship, the PRC side could not be described as really forthcoming in this,” State Department Assistant Secretary David Stilwell, Pompeo’s top lieutenant for Asia, told reporters after the meeting. “I’m not going to go into detail on exactly what was discussed, but whether or not they were productive or not, I will look at what comes up in the next couple of weeks: Do we see a reduction in aggressive behavior or not? That’s not to say that we didn’t try, but as you know, in any relationship, both sides get a vote on these things.”
With that in mind, Pompeo urged European allies to see the full spectrum of Chinese Communist threats to Western nations.
