Mike Pompeo Describes As Rogue Actor, Slams Beijing For Violent Border Row With India

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The United States has strongly criticised the Chinese Army for “escalating” the border tension with India and described the ruling Chinese Communist Party as a “rogue actor”.

Launching a scathing attack on the Chinese government, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Chinese Communist Party wants to undo all the progress the free world has made through institutions like NATO and adopt a new set of rules and norms that accommodate Beijing.

“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has escalated border tensions with India, the world’s most populous democracy. It’s militarising the South China Sea and illegally claiming more territory there, threatening vital sea lanes,” Pompeo said, a day after he expressed deep condolences to India on the death of 20 soldiers in violent clashes with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in Ladakh early in the week.

In his virtual address on “Europe and the China Challenge” during the 2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit , the top American diplomat said that for many years, the West, in an era of hope, believed they could change the Chinese Communist Party and improve the lives of the Chinese people along the way.

“Along the way, the CCP took advantage of our goodwill while assuring us they wanted a cooperative relationship. As (former Chinese politician) Deng Xiaoping said ‘Hide your strength, bide your time.’ I’ve talked in other venues about why this happened. It’s a complicated story. It’s no one’s fault,” Pompeo said.