Pompeo Calls China’s Ruling Party ‘Central Threat of Our Times’

London was Mr. Pompeo’s first stop on a five-nation tour that includes Ukraine, where he will become the first United States cabinet member to visit the country since President Trump’s July phone call with the newly elected Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

That call, during which Mr. Trump urged Mr. Zelensky to look into issues related to the 2016 election in the United States and to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter Biden, provoked a whistle-blower complaint and led to Mr. Trump’s impeachment and his trial in the Senate.

Mr. Pompeo’s trip was originally scheduled to take place just after the new year, but was delayed because of concerns about escalating tensions with Iran.

In addition to the United Kingdom and Ukraine, Mr. Pompeo is scheduled to make stops in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Mr. Pompeo left the United States trailed by controversy after the State Department barred National Public Radio’s diplomatic correspondent from the trip. It came after a dust-up with a veteran reporter from the organization, Mary Louise Kelly, who questioned him about the Trump administration’s firing of the United States ambassador to Ukraine.

In an extraordinary statement, Mr. Pompeo lashed out at Ms. Kelly, and said the news media was “unhinged.”

And the decision by Britain to allow Huawei to provide some of the equipment in its 5G network, coming just days before Mr. Pompeo arrived, was a bitter disappointment.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/world/europe/pompeo-uk-china-huawei.html?emc=rss&partner=rss