JAKARTA - The United States seems to be constantly "challenging" China. After closing the Chinese Consulate in Houston, now US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urged the Chinese public to join international efforts to "change the behavior" of the Chinese government. The US also encourages many other countries to fight China's hegemony.
Launching SCMP, Friday, July 24, Pompeo felt that the 1.4 billion people of the bamboo curtain country were afraid to voice their aspirations because of the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He also called on Asia-Pacific countries such as Vietnam and Australia to make alliances against the CCP's hegemony.
"The United Nations, NATO, G7, G20, our combination is certainly sufficient to meet this challenge, if directed properly," Pompeo said in a speech at the President Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. "Our approach cannot be just tough. We must also engage and empower Chinese people, dynamic and freedom-loving people who are completely different from the Chinese Communist Party," he explained.
The speech, entitled "Communist China and the Future of the Free World," was Pompeo's fourth "attack" in a month to criticize China for its global ambitions. Pompeo's speech contributed to the escalation of US-China tensions.
Escalation is increasingEarlier, the US State Department closed the Chinese consulate office in Houston, Texas. Pompeo said his department ordered China to close its consulate in Houston. Pompeo said the move had to be taken because the consulate's office was a hub for spying and data theft.
The closure is expected to end four decades of US-China relations. Though the official diplomatic relations have been started since 1979.
The standard international diplomatic way of dealing with people who are declared "persona non grata" is to do so in secret or through naming and public shaming. But this process doesn't involve closing the consulate, so it's a very serious escalation.
However, the closure of the consulate appeared uncertain after the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, Cai Wei, said that the country was protesting against the closure order. He also said that his office would remain open "until further notice".
"Today we are still operating normally, so we will see what happens tomorrow," said Cai Wei, but declined to elaborate.
As is well known, the Trump administration's attitude towards China has continued to harden in recent months, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic which was first reported in China in late 2020. The virus has now spread throughout the US, causing an economic crisis and a public health crisis that does not show. signs abated.
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