Pompeo Warns U.S. Governors, Cut Your Ties with China

Feb. 9, 2020 (EIRNS)—In a keynote speech on Feb. 8 at the National Governors’ Association (NGA) annual conference, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo virtually ordered state officials from across the United States to stop pursuing, and cut off, any contacts with the Chinese-American Friendship Society, the Confucius Institutes, Chinese investors in their states, Chinese companies, etc.

Speaking peremptorily as he often does, Pompeo instructed the governors that “China is watching you, working you,” and that the State Department has the documents by which China is “ranking” them as open and friendly, or not. This was equivalent to saying, “We are watching you,” we know what you’ve done and we want no friendly interchanges by you with China. It will be remembered how disgraced FBI Director James Comey threatened President Donald Trump in a transition meeting on Jan. 6, 2017, by telling the President “there is a dossier” (by MI6’s Christopher Steele) and it says dangerous things about you, and we (the intelligence agencies) have it and might cause it to be published. Pompeo’s warning seemed intended to have the same effect.

He told the governors,

“not to make separate individual deals with China that could undermine national policy. And, in fact, whether you are viewed by the [Communist Party of China] as friendly or hardline, know that it’s working you, know that it’s working the team around you. Competition with China is happening inside of your state, and it affects our capacity to perform America’s vital national security functions.”

Could the Secretary of State and former CIA Director have been more explicit?

This was the sole subject of Pompeo’s NGA speech. In one rushed sentence, he acknowledged again that the United States had given aid and pledges of support to China in its fight against the coronavirus epidemic. His repeatedly bringing this up in recent days indicates President Trump’s pressure against Pompeo’s intense hostility to China; but firing him would be more effective in freeing up the President’s policy.