Pompeo calls China's expansionism ‘challenge of our time’ as US shifts forces to Asia

In a significant development, the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on June 25 said that the Chinese threat to Southeast Asia is one of the reasons that the country is reducing its troop's presence in Europe. While speaking at the Brussels Forum virtual conference, Pompeo cited the recent Chinese Army’s confrontation and said that it was one of the reasons behind recalibration of the global deployment of the country’s forces. 

Pompeo also said that the US was trying to ensure its forces are ‘postured appropriately’ so as to deal with the Chinese Army, which pose a threat to countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and the South China Sea. Further, the US Secretary of State also noted that the Trump administration had carried out a long-overdue strategic posture review of the US military two years ago. 

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Pompeo said that the US had carried out a fundamental relook at the threats it faced and how it should allocate its resources, including intelligence and military and cyber. He also informed that the US President Donald Trump had ordered the recalibration of force deployment and the country will be reducing its number of troops in Germany from about 52,000 to 25,000 as part of the move. 

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While calling it the ‘challenge of our times’, Pompeo also said that the officials will make sure that the US has resources in place to counter the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). He added that with the US’ new decision, some nations need to step up and take responsibility for their own defence in ways what they hadn’t done previously. He said, “We want to do this in full consultation with all of our partners all around the world, and certainly our friends in Europe”. 

China identified as ‘systemic rival’ 

While speaking at the virtual summit, Pompeo even acknowledged that the US was slow to recognise the reality of the rising authoritarian regime and the implications it had on the free society. He also noted that the Commission and the External Action Service identified China as a ‘systemic rival’ and the National Threat Assessment identified the country as a potential threat for the first time in 2019 and later in 2020 again. 

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Pompeo added, “Clearly, there is a transatlantic awakening to the truth of what's happening. Concerns are rightly growing about the CCP's exploitation of multilateral bodies, too. To give you just a single example, Chinese leaders at the International Telecommunications Union and the International Civil Aviation Organization have leveraged their positions to advance China's narrow interests”. 

Further, he said, “But we can all agree that these institutions should be rooted in democratic values, hew to their missions, and reflect the interests of all member states”. 

(Inputs: PTI) 

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