Pompeo Calls for U.S.-European Unity in Response to 'China Challenge'

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is touting an international coalition against China, particularly using his social media accounts to highlight criticisms of the communist Chinese government from across the globe.

Pompeo has amplified direct criticism of the Chinese Communist Party over the past month through several actions, including the restriction of visas against all current and former CCP officials "complicit" in undermining Hong Kong's autonomy. The Trump administration has chastised the Chinese government in tit-for-tat remarks that escalated at the end of last year, at the outset of both the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy Hong Kong protests. The secretary of state has vowed to uphold President Donald Trump's threats against any CCP actions against democratic governments.

Pompeo in the last few days has appeared to step up his response to China's ongoing propaganda campaign against the U.S., touting both European and Southeast Asia alliances against the Chinese government.

On Sunday, he tweeted: "The U.S. and European nations have awakened to the reality of China's role as a rising authoritarian regime, and the implications for our free society. The CCP's cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan - which has killed thousands - has accelerated our awakening."

In another tweet he later posted that same day, Pompeo wrote: "The U.S. and our European partners must work together to continue the Transatlantic awakening to the China challenge, in the interest of preserving our free societies, our prosperity, and our future."

He also tweeted on Friday: "President @realDonaldTrump promised to punish the CCP officials responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that– we've announced visa restrictions on CCP officials responsible for undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and human rights.

Last Thursday, the secretary of state honed in on criticism of China during a virtual Brussels forum with E.U. leaders: "I'm starting to see even more realism on the continent as it relates to the threat of the Communist Party in China. We should address that challenge together – as transatlantic partners have met many challenges," he said at the outset of the meeting.

"The CCP has broken multiple international commitments, including those to the WHO, the WTO, the United Nations, and the people of Hong Kong," he told European allies during the Brussels meeting. "I am talking too about the CCP's predatory economic practices, such as trying to force nations to do business with Huawei, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party's surveillance state ... its violations of European sovereignty, including its browbeating of companies like HSBC."

Pompeo went on to note the "provocative military actions" of the People's Liberation Army, another name for China's armed forces. And he criticized the Chinese government's "aggression" in the South China Sea, confrontations with India and "an opaque nuclear program."

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of State and the Chinese embassy in Washington Sunday afternoon for additional remarks.

Taking to Twitter over the weekend, Pompeo applauded leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who on Saturday rebuked the Chinese government's claim to the entire South China Sea region on historical grounds. The 10-bloc Southeast Asia leaders, who spoke during a weekend video conference, cited a 1982 United Nations oceans treaty that allows Vietnam and other countries in the region to traverse the South China Sea despite China's attempted lockdown of the area.

The Trump administration and Chinese government officials have traded barbs over the culpability of the coronavirus pandemic, which U.S. leaders claim originated in a Wuhan, China laboratory before being spread globally.