The Chinese Embassy here on Friday lambasted United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo over remarks he made during his two-day visit to Georgetown as it relates to Beijing’s governance style and investment portfolio.
“The US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo made again some erroneous remarks on China during his visit to Guyana, to which we strongly oppose. To ensure a correct understanding of facts,” Beijing said as it rebutted Pompeo’s assertions.
“…We advise Mr. Pompeo to stop spreading rumours and fake news everywhere to confuse people. Otherwise, he will end up humiliating himself and damage his own image.”
Flexing its military muscles, China on Friday flew some 18 fighter jets into the Taiwan Strait in response to an American delegation in Taiwan, who Pompeo said was there for a funeral.
“We sent the delegation to a funeral and the Chinese have apparently responded by military blustering. I’ll leave it at that,” he said in response to a question on Friday from Newsroom reporter Neil Marks.
Pompeo also appeared on State broadcast agency National Communications Network (NCN) and bemoaned the communist China’s investment strategies as he compared it to the transparent and democratic processes of his country.
“We want to make sure that that foreign direct investment comes in in a way that’s fair and transparent. I think every country understands that when America shows up, we ask for nothing more than a fair shot at the competition, rule of law, contracts that are enforceable, a set of property rights. We don’t apply political pressure connected to our commercial enterprises. There are other nations that operate very differently,” he said.
“China operates very differently. The Chinese Communist Party shows up with its military and commercial deeply intertwined. They put political pressure on countries to accept tenders from their country. That’s not how American businesses roll. We show up; we hire locally. We are great environmental stewards. We abide by the rule of law. We respect countries’ sovereignty. Those are the things that I think nations are looking for, and I think the new leadership here in Guyana is looking for,” he added.
Beijing took offence to those statements and fired back on Friday afternoon. “First, Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China. China has always firmly opposed any countries to develop any official relations or exchanges with the Taiwan region. We urge the US side to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, comply with the basic rules of international relations, and stop the erroneous remarks that bolster “Taiwan independence” separatists, undermine China-US relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China has the right to take all necessary actions to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said.
“Second, China has always been a staunch defender of cyber security. Nevertheless, incidents like the Edward Snowden revelations and the PRISM programme have proved that the US is a habitual stealer of secrets. The US has, in the absence of evidence, abused the concept of national security and its state power to oppress certain foreign companies. The US has not only violated market principles and international rules, but also negated the principles of market economy and fair competition that it has been priding itself on. We hope that all countries work together to promote a fair, just, open, non-discriminatory business environment.”
And on its investment mode, the spokesperson said that China develops relations with Caribbean countries including Guyana “under the principles of mutual respect, equality, and mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. China attaches no political strings in bilateral pragmatic cooperation, which bring tangible benefits to countries and peoples in the region. This is an objective fact that anyone without prejudice will admit.”
