Pompeo Slams Beijing Again Over Hong Kong Moves

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit out at Beijing again on Wednesday, repeating allegations that Beijing was exploiting the world's focus on the coronavirus pandemic with "provocative behaviour" to erode autonomy in Hong Kong.

He also accused the mainland of exerting military pressure on Taiwan and coercing neighbours in the South China Sea.

"The United States strongly opposes China's bullying, we hope other nations will hold them to account," he said. Pompeo said he would be speaking later on Wednesday with counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Pompeo told a news briefing that the United States "strongly believed" Beijing had failed to report the outbreak in a timely manner, in breach of World Health Organisation rules, and had failed to report human-to-human transmission of the virus "for a month until it was in every province inside of China".

Pompeo also said the mainland had halted testing of new virus samples, "destroyed existing samples" and failed to share samples with the outside world, "making it impossible to track the disease’s evolution".

The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which began late last year in Wuhan and has grown into a global pandemic.

Even after Beijing notified the WHO of the outbreak, Pompeo said, "It did not share all of the information it had. Instead it covered up how dangerous the disease is."

Pompeo said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom failed to use his ability "to go public" when a member state failed to follow the rules. He said the WHO had an obligation to ensure safety standards were observed in virology labs in Wuhan and its director-general had "enormous authority with respect to nations that do not comply".

While the Trump administration has stepped up criticism of China as the pandemic worsens, the crisis has exposed US reliance on China for essential medical supplies.

Asked about recent reports that supplies were being held up in China, Pompeo said: "The good news is we have seen China provide those resources; sometimes they're from US companies that are there in China, but we've had success. ... We appreciate that.

"We are counting on China to continue to live up to its contractual obligations and international obligations to provide that assistance to us and to sell us those goods ... in a way consistent with all of the international trade rules." (Reuters)