WASHINGTON • US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned US politicians at the state and local level to be vigilant around Chinese diplomats whom he said could be trying to woo them as part of Beijing's propaganda and espionage campaign.
Speaking at the Wisconsin State Capitol on Wednesday, Mr Pompeo said the State Department was reviewing the activities of the United States-China Friendship Association and the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification over suspicions that they are trying to influence American schools, business groups and local politicians.
The two groups are linked to China's United Front Work Department, an organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, Mr Pompeo said.
"Know that when you are approached by a Chinese diplomat, it is likely not in the spirit of cooperation or friendship," he said, warning of the CCP's "influence and espionage campaigns", even at the municipal level.
"The federal government can't police every bit of this predatory and coercive behaviour. We need your help... Protecting American interests requires vigilance, vigilance that starts with you - and all state legislators, regardless of party," he said.
The latest swipe at Beijing comes in the run-up to the presidential election in November, in which President Donald Trump has made a tough approach to China an important foreign policy platform.
Wisconsin is a key battleground state in the polls.
Mr Pompeo's speech triggered an outcry from Democratic lawmakers who accused him of using taxpayer money to solidify political support for Mr Trump and, potentially, for himself as he is widely seen as harbouring presidential ambitions for 2024.
Mr Pompeo also asked Wisconsin legislators to boost intellectual property protections and investment screening, and encouraged business people to ignore China's threats over engaging with Taiwan, which Beijing claims as sovereign Chinese territory.
Ties between China and the US are at their lowest point in decades, with the world's top two economies at loggerheads over issues including China's handling of the coronavirus crisis, trade rivalries, new national security legislation in Hong Kong and tensions in the South China Sea.
Mr Pompeo said the Trump administration was carefully calibrating its language on how to describe what has been happening in China's western Xinjiang region, where the United Nations cites credible reports as saying that one million Muslims held in camps have been put to work.
"When the United States speaks about crimes against humanity or genocide... we've got to be very careful and very precise because it carries an enormous weight," Mr Pompeo said.
Last month, the Politico news website reported that the Trump administration was considering formally labelling China's actions in Xinjiang as a "genocide".
China has rejected allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang and has criticised the US for meddling in its internal affairs.
REUTERS
