Mike Pompeo and Yang Jiechi Meet for Seven Hours

June 18, 2020 (EIRNS)—The meeting between Mike Pompeo and Yang Jiechi, China’s leading foreign policy official, included a dinner and a seven-hour discussion on Wednesday in Hawaii. China called the meeting “constructive,” which is highly significant, while the U.S. readout was mild, but called for cooperation in confronting COVID-19. President Donald Trump is making a bold statement by arranging this meeting at this time, and with this representative, that dialogue is possible and necessary.

Pompeo is keynoting the China-bashing “Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2020” in Denmark June 19—he will likely return to his belligerent style. Trump also sent a tweet that, despite what Trade Representative Lighthizer said in his Congressional hearing, a decoupling with China is still possible. The art of the deal.

Here are the official readouts.

State Department, attributed to the Office of the Spokesperson:

“Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met today with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Member Yang Jiechi in Honolulu, Hawaii to exchange views on U.S.-China relations. The Secretary stressed important American interests and the need for fully-reciprocal dealings between the two nations across commercial, security, and diplomatic interactions. He also stressed the need for full transparency and information sharing to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and prevent future outbreaks.”

Xinhua:

“Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi held a dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the latter’s request on Tuesday and Wednesday local time in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, conducted in-depth exchanges with Pompeo on China-U.S. relations as well as global and regional issues of mutual concern. Both sides fully expounded their respective stances and deemed the dialogue to be constructive.

“They agreed to take action to implement in earnest the consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries and maintain contact and communication.”