Pompeo Knocks China in Pitching U.S. Interests in Southeast Asia

U.S. seeks ‘strategic partnerships,’ not dependency: Pompeo
Secretary of state heads to Southeast Asia later this week

Mike Pompeo, center, arrives to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2018 — Mike Pompeo, center, arrives to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2018
Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Bill Faries

July 30, 2018 at 4:47 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo took not-so-subtle digs at China in pitching U.S. commitment to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region despite President Donald Trump’s decision last year to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

Pompeo, speaking Monday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before a trip to Asia, said the U.S. believes in “strategic partnerships, not strategic dependency,” a veiled criticism of China’s efforts to woo countries with cheap financing for infrastructure projects and its Belt and Road Initiative, a project aimed at forging new economic ties with Europe, Asia and Africa.