US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not fly “halfway around the world to talk about annexation,” senior US officials say.
The officials, speaking anonymously during a State Department briefing, says the issue was not “the top line in Pompeo’s talks” and the new government “has various strands… it’s going to take them a while to come together with what they’re going to do.”
They say the talks focused on other “major priorities” including the Iranian threat, which is “actually severe and getting worse on some fronts,” the coronavirus crisis and “how we can cooperate on the things we can do regionally together.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/POOL/AFP)
Another central topic was and Washington’s concerns over Israel’s relationship with China. “The Secretary doesn’t have a problem with people having relationships with China but… COVID sort of highlights the dangers of dealing with states that are not transparent, that don’t have fair trade practices.”
The officials say China’s strategic investment around the world is a major issue of concern. “There is no such thing as a privately owned, independent company in China,” he notes.
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