Pompeo says Chinese Communist Party wants 'international domination'

Speaking at the Hudson Institute in New York, Pompeo announced a series of speeches over the coming months on the growing competition between the US and China.

"I'll talk about the competing ideologies and values and the impact that has on America and the world. The Chinese Communist Party is a Marxist-Leninist Party focused on struggle and international domination," he said. "We need only listen to the words of their leaders."

But while the top US diplomat made it clear Washington saw Beijing as a "strategic competitor," Pompeo said that he didn't want a "confrontation" with China.

"In fact we want just the opposite. We want to see a prosperous China that is at peace with its own people and with its neighbors. ... And we want to see a liberalized China that allows the genius of its people to flourish," he said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the Herman Kahn Award Gala, Wednesday, October 30 in New York.

Responding to Pompeo's speech on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accused the US leader of "maliciously attacking" China.

"It fully exposes the deep-seated political prejudice and dark anti-communist mindset of a handful of American politicians. Such remarks are by no means an embodiment of confidence and power, but rather reveal fear and arrogance," he said.

"The past and reality has proven that China and the US stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation."

Tensions have been rising between the US and China on a number of fronts over the past two years.

Since mid-2018, the Trump administration has placed strict tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, provoking retaliatory tariffs from Beijing.

China has also blamed the US for playing a role in the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong, without providing evidence.

Diplomatic tensions came to a point on October 16 when the US State Department introduced new rules requiring Chinese officials to report all meetings with state and local officials in the US. The restrictions come amid growing concern about Chinese influence in the US and elsewhere, and were introduced in response to similar rules on how Western diplomats operate in China.

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