Mike Pompeo appeared to rattle markets a bit on Tuesday morning during remarks carried by various media outlets.
Trump’s top diplomat weighed in on a variety of geopolitical issues, including, of course, Hong Kong. “A peaceful resolution would be best for China”, Pompeo said, adding that Beijing “should respect Hong Kong people’s right to speak”.
Although the Secretary of State said he anticipates talks with the Chinese will continue “at least over the phone” for the next week or two, he emphasized the national security risk posed by Huawei. His comments come a day after Wilbur Ross granted a 90-day reprieve for US businesses to keep dealing with the company.
Read more: Wilbur Ross Unveils New Huawei Reprieve To Maria Bartiromo
Pompeo noted that Huawei isn’t the only Chinese company that poses a threat to the US, a comment which should surprise nobody considering the US has already sought to blacklist at least a half-dozen companies and all manner of subsidiaries and associated entities.
Expounding a bit on Hong Kong in an interview with CNBC, Pompeo suggested striking a trade deal with Beijing would be considerably more difficult in there was a violent resolution to the civil unrest.
“If it ends in a way that there was violence — the president said something like Tiananmen Square — that it would make it more difficult”, he mused.
The Trump administration has repeatedly played the Tiananmen Square card in 2019 (the 30th anniversary of the dubious historical tragedy). Mike Pence was scheduled to make a speech decrying Beijing’s human rights record over the summer, but it was delayed and ultimately nixed in the interest of striking a trade deal.
“I hope that the trade negotiations move forward, and I hope that Hong Kong is resolved in a peaceful way”, Mike said. “Those would be the best outcomes for both China and the United States”.
That’s just a more diplomatic way of saying what Trump said last week, when he told reporters on the tarmac “I hope nobody gets killed”.
China has repeatedly warned the US against leveraging the Hong Kong situation in the trade talks, and Pompeo’s comments come less than 24 hours after Twitter and Facebook revealed a state-sponsored propaganda campaign linked to Beijing.
I wonder why the Trump administration is tying the trade talks to the Hong Kong protests, or mentioning Hong Kong at all? This creates another obstacle to negotiating a trade deal, or ratifying one. Is Trump looking to deflect blame for the trade problems – make Americans see China as even more of an enemy, so that it is their patriotic duty to suffer his recession? Is Trump trying to create a chit that he can cash in later – ok Xi, I’ll let you send in the PLA just sign on the dotted line? I find it hard to believe that the administration is suddenly interested in human rights.
I think Pompeo is a Fox in the Chicken coop…I don’t believe the title line …Sorry about that !!!!
the title is tongue-in-cheek
This time they could have a point. HK is too important as a global hub of liquidity. Stop HK and the global slowdown has much higher probability to worsen and become a global recession. No trade deal will save the world if HK is halted. This might be a reason why the two topics are being linked.
Trade war? The trade war is over and Maga-man lost: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4286582-trade-war-trump-just-realize-yet?ifp=0
The Trump regime is in no position to ask/expect PRC tp uphold the agreement with the British for Hong Kong to remain independent for 50 yeats after the 1998 hand over, since Trump tore up the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) with some 11 other Pacific trading partners to blunt China’s Trade and imperialistic ambitions in the Pacific. Trump also tore up the Iranian nuclear standstill agreement, so Trump isn’t known for up-holding Agreements. The Chinese are aware of this.