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US-China relations
OpinionComment
Chi Wang
Chi Wang

Opinion | US-China relations: how Mike Pompeo’s brusque diplomacy fails to win friends

  • Pompeo’s rhetoric is aimed at American public, promoting Donald Trump’s policies, not building relations with foreign nations or advancing US interests abroad
  • In a globalised society, the effects foreign policy decisions have on our security, economy and place in the world cannot be understated

Reading Time:4 minutes
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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Chi Wang

In a recent interview on Fox News Channel’s Life, Liberty & Levin, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the Trump administration’s foreign policy actions. For those who don’t closely follow the news or are less versed in foreign policy, much of Pompeo’s rhetoric probably sounded good. For a critical listener, however, it immediately rang false.

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Pompeo praised US President Donald Trump’s “America first” campaign and how, by ensuring prosperity and human rights at home, the example would spread abroad. Meanwhile, the United States faces increasing protests addressing racial issues, the economy is faltering and an ongoing pandemic has killed more than 200,000 Americans.

While failing to acknowledge these facts, he went on to discuss a foreign policy where “we have to take the facts as they are and not as we wish them to be”. The disconnect was jarring. As the interview continued, Pompeo’s priorities and characteristics as secretary of state became increasingly clear and worrisome.

I spent nearly 50 years working for the US government. I taught future diplomats at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute and advised ambassadors, members of Congress and White House officials in my role as head of the Chinese and Korean Section at the US Library of Congress.

I have witnessed first-hand the work of secretaries of state and diplomats over the years. Based on my own experience and in watching Pompeo throughout his tenure, one thing is painfully clear – Pompeo is not a diplomat.

02:47

China warns US of ‘strong response’ regarding Taiwan, saying island’s independence is 'dead end'

China warns US of ‘strong response’ regarding Taiwan, saying island’s independence is 'dead end'
The secretary of state is the president’s key adviser on foreign policy, head of the State Department and US foreign service and a lead negotiator in international affairs. For Pompeo, however, a key priority of his is to travel throughout the United States in support of Trump’s policies.
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