Pompeo, in Indonesia, renews China attacks as US vote looms3
29 October, 2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renewed the Trump administration’s rhetorical onslaught against China in Indonesia on Thursday (Oct 29) as the American presidential election looms.
With China a central theme in President Donald Trump’s campaign to win another term in just five days' time, Pompeo took aim at Chinese aggressiveness in the South China Sea, where it has advanced maritime and territorial claims over the objections of its smaller neighbours, and over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in Jakarta, the headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Pompeo praised Indonesia’s leadership in ASEAN for pushing back on what he called China’s “unlawful” claims and lauded Jakarta's protection of its own territory.
“We respect freedom of the seas, sovereignty and the rule of law,” he said, standing beside Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. Marsudi agreed, saying “international law should be respected,” although she didn't specifically mention China.
“Our law-abiding nations reject the unlawful claims by the Chinese Communist Party in the South China Sea as is clear from Indonesia’s courageous leadership on this subject within ASEAN and at the United Nations," Pompeo said. "It’s a cause worth pursuing in multilateral settings and the Trump administration very much supports this.”
Earlier this season, the Trump administration clarified its longstanding policy on the disputes by rejecting outright practically all of Beijing’s maritime claims in the South China Sea.
That decision in July came as Trump commenced a concerted effort to use China as a campaign cudgel against his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, who he paints as weak on China and beholden to it.
Previously, US policy have been to insist that maritime disputes between China and its own smaller neighbours be resolved peacefully through UN-backed arbitration. However in a Jul 13 statement, Pompeo said the US now regards almost all Chinese maritime claims outside its internationally recognised waters to be illegitimate.
China has pressed ahead with attempts to enforce its disputed claims in the South China Sea, resulting in serious spats with Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia recently. It has ignored arbitration rulings that the disputes should be negotiated.
In making the united states announcement, Pompeo said China cannot legally claim the James Shoal near Malaysia, waters surrounding the Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, the Luconia Shoals near Brunei or Natuna Besar off Indonesia. On Thursday, Pompeo said Indonesia's protection of Natuna Besar was commendable.
Pompeo found its way to Indonesia from the Maldives, where he announced america would for the first time open an embassy in the Indian Ocean archipelago, a move that reflects growing US concern about increasing Chinese influence in your community.
“The Chinese Communist Party continues its lawless and threatening behaviour,” Pompeo said in Male, just hours after accusing China to be a ”predator" during his previous stop in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
“The Chinese Communist Party is a predator," he said.
Giving an answer to Pompeo’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the secretary of state’s true intention was to “let China fall back to a time of poverty and undevelopment, and allow world fall in to the abyss of confrontation and division.”
“This is just the largest threat facing the world today. But regrettably, Pompeo was created in the incorrect time. The trend of peace, development, cooperation and win-win in this era is irresistible,” Wang told reporters.
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