Pompeo praises UK over China and says trade deal imminent
US SECRETARY of State Mike Pompeo has praised the UK for standing up to China and signalled a trade deal is imminent.
In a blistering attack on Beijing he said Boris Johnson was right to cool relations with the Communist state over human rights abuses.
And he said he hopes a trade deal with the UK that reduces trade barriers can be done “as soon as possible”.
Mr Pompeo met the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday, a day after the Government announced the suspension of an extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
The decision came amid anger at China’s anti-democracy actions and claims of genocide against its Uighur Muslim population.
The Government also announced last week that Huawei will be banned from the 5G network because of national security concerns with all of the Chinese tech giant’s equipment to be stripped out by 2027.
In reply China has threatened to target UK firms including HSBC and Jaguar Land Rover which operate in the country.
Mr Pompeo said: “I want to congratulate the British government for its principled responses to these challenges.You have made a sovereign decision to ban Huawei from future 5G networks, you have joined other free nations to condemn China’s broken promises on the Sino-British treaty, you generously opened your doors to Hong Kongers who are fleeing for freedom.
“And yesterday you suspended your extradition treaty and extended your arms embargo on China to Hong Kong itself.We support those sovereign choices, we think well done.”
The former US army officer confirmed there was more work before a trade deal could be signed after almost two months of talks.
But he saidWashington wanted a deal finalised before too long.
Reports surfaced last month that the trade talks with the US, which started in May, were unlikely to produce an agreement before the presidential elections in November when US President Donald Trump is seeking re-election against Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Mr Pompeo added: “We’ve completed two rounds, we’ve got more work to do, with a third round later this month.
“It is the primary focus of the United States to see if we can make progress on this and bring it to a close just as soon as possible.”
Mr Raab said: “Our annual trade relationship is worth over $300billion, we think we can do even better than that.”