Vilifying China, Pompeo Reaches a New Low

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 10 February 2020
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Liza Roberts. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
While China is doing its best to combat the new coronavirus and pneumonia epidemic, the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo still manages to attack and defame China. Without a doubt, this kind of behavior is a shameful example of hitting someone when he is down, and reflects just how stubborn Pompeo’s anti-China stance is. One could say it’s reached the point of hysteria.

In a speech at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington on Feb. 8, Pompeo warned U.S. governors to maintain a cautious mindset when engaging in business with China. He intimated that the U.S. is currently competing with China at the federal, state and local levels, and that Beijing will attempt to use American openness to destroy the United States. One can simply sum up the speech as follows: China is bad, you (U.S. governors) must be careful!

Pompeo’s words are nothing new. He has already expressed this sour view on various occasions many times in the past. But unlike before, Pompeo delivered this speech to governors, suggesting more ruthless intentions this time. Some analysts say this was Pompeo’s attempt at mobilizing governors to guard against China, and that the strategic competition between China and the U.S. has spread to these localities.

We know that the U.S. is a federalist government and that each state has relative autonomy. The attitudes of different states toward China differ from each other and from those of the federal government. Some states have a consistently close and cooperative relationship with China, and these states do not approve of the federal policies toward China as influenced by Pompeo and other extremely conservative politicians. Pompeo was obviously dissatisfied with this, and in his speech, he berated governors who have a such a positive relationship with China. He also did all he could to urge more governors to adopt his tough stance on China. It must be said that Pompeo is destructively misleading these state leaders.

Pompeo is currently the secretary of state, in charge of foreign diplomacy, yet he still speaks with the tone of a special agent. It appears that Pompeo, who was once the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, cannot escape his intelligence agent way of thinking and speaking. This, in fact, dooms him to interpreting China in a distorted and defamatory way. Because he is accustomed to lying, cheating and stealing, Pompeo assumes that other people act like him as well. He claims that China’s regular and mutually beneficial contact with American states demonstrates China’s ulterior motives. He imagines China’s cultural institutions as one would imagine an extension of the CIA, and describes Chinese exchange students as if they were secret agents. Pompeo fills his mind with dirty political schemes.

In slandering and vilifying China, Pompeo completely disregards the facts; no rational person with good judgment could believe and accept his allegations. Pompeo has recently raced around the entire world, slandering China everywhere he goes and doing his best at provocation. However, he has seen few results, even among U.S. allies, where there are few who agree with his ideas, demonstrating that everyone else has a more rational way of thinking about China.

The domestic situation in the U.S. may be more complicated: McCarthyism has already resurfaced to a certain extent as Pompeo readily dons his national security cap, a development which will certainly have a chilling effect and exert a destructive influence on China-U.S. relations. But we don’t need to exaggerate Pompeo’s destructive capabilities. The healthy development of China-U.S. relations and cooperation between the two countries − rather than antagonism − is in the basic interests of both countries. No matter how fervently Pompeo opposes China, he cannot change this fact. Another key issue for Pompeo is the fact that the number of Americans who agree with his madness is limited.

We cannot control Pompeo’s mouth. It is almost certain that he will launch both open and covert attacks on China whenever he gets a chance. China can only stride forward until it moves beyond Pompeo’s range of fire.




正当中国在全力以赴抗击新冠病毒肺炎疫情的时候,美国国务卿蓬佩奥仍然不忘攻击抹黑中国。这种行为无疑比落井下石还要恶劣,也反映出蓬佩奥的反华立场是多么顽固,可以说已经到了歇斯底里的地步。

2月8日,蓬佩奥在华盛顿举行的全美州长协会会议上发表讲话,警告美国的州长们在与中国做生意时采取“谨慎的心态”。他恐吓说,美国正在联邦、州和地方层面与中国开展全方位的竞争,而北京试图利用美国的开放来“破坏”美国。如果对讲话做一个形象的简单概括,那就是“中国很坏,你们(美国州长们)一定要当心!”

蓬佩奥的这些话一点都不新鲜,他过去在其他各种场合讲过很多遍,已经散发出酸腐臭味。和以往不同的是,这次是讲给美国的州长们听的,蓬佩奥有着更为狠辣的用意。有分析称,这是蓬佩奥面对州长们做“防范中国”的政治动员,中美战略竞争开始向地方蔓延。

我们知道,美国是联邦制,各州有着相当大的自主权。不同的州对中国的态度是不同的,和联邦政府也有着差别。一些州和中国一直有着密切往来和友好合作,对蓬佩奥等极端保守政客影响下的联邦对华政策并不认同。蓬佩奥对此显然非常不满,他在讲话中借机敲打了在对华合作上持积极态度的州长,也竭尽所能敦促更多州长向他的对华强硬立场看齐。不得不说,蓬佩奥对美国各州州长做了破坏性误导。

蓬佩奥现在是国务卿,主管外交的,但他一开口还是浓浓的特工腔。看来,做过中情局局长的蓬佩奥是脱不了特工式思维方式和话语体系了,这很大程度上注定了他会歪曲诠释中国,抹黑描述中国。因为他自己习惯了“撒谎、欺骗、偷窃”,所以觉得其他人也和他差不多。他把中国与美国各州的正常交往和互利往来,说成是中国“别有用心”。他按照中情局分部的形象来想象中国的文化机构,按照中情局特工的形象来描绘中国留学生及学者。他的脑子里装满肮脏的政治权谋。

蓬佩奥对中国完全不顾事实的污蔑和中伤,是所有具备基本理性和判断力的人都不会采信的。过去一段时间,蓬佩奥满世界跑,四处诋毁中国,极尽挑拨之能事,但收效甚微,就连美国的盟友也没太多人附和,这说明大家心里都有一杆秤。

美国内部的情况可能是要复杂些,麦卡锡主义已经一定程度借尸还魂,蓬佩奥动辄扣上国家安全的大帽子,会在一定程度上制造寒蝉效应,从而对中美关系产生破坏性影响。但我们也不必夸大蓬佩奥的破坏性能量。中美关系健康发展,中美合作而不是对抗,符合两国的根本利益,无论蓬佩奥是多么疯狂地反华,都改变不了这个事实。还有一个关键问题是,陪着蓬佩奥一起疯狂的美国人,毕竟数量有限。

我们管不住蓬佩奥的嘴。几乎可以确定,接下来他一有机会仍要向中国射出明枪或暗箭。中国只能大步往前,直至走出蓬佩奥们的射程。
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