China tells Trump administration to stop its 'misguided' actions and allegations
Source: The Washington Post
By Anna Fifield and Simon Denyer October 8 at 6:19 AM
BEIJING — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got an earful from senior Chinese officials during a five-hour visit to Beijing Monday, effectively becoming the whipping boy in the increasingly acrimonious relationship between the two governments.
Pompeo is the most senior official to meet with his Chinese counterparts since President Trump accused Beijing of meddling in November’s midterm elections and Vice President Pence gave a vitriolic speech charging Beijing with seeking to undermine U.S. interests across the globe.
He felt the full force of the dispute during meetings with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi, a Politburo member who has long dealt with bilateral relations. In the first round, Wang told Pompeo that the Trump administration’s recent actions against China have “directly impacted our mutual trust and cast a shadow over our bilateral relations.”
Pompeo is on a whistle-stop tour around Asia mainly focused on North Korea’s nuclear program, but upon arrival in Beijing, the agenda swiftly pivoted to the burgeoning dispute between the world’s two biggest economies, sparked by Trump’s trade war and fueled by his allegations that the Chinese government is “meddling” in next month’s midterm elections.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-tells-trump-administration-to-stop-its-misguided-actions-and-allegations/2018/10/08/cd17c926-cac1-11e8-a85c-0bbe30c19e8f_story.html