China cannot threaten countries and bully them: Pompeo

Washington: Attacking China for its aggressive moves against its neighbours, including “instigating” a deadly confrontation with India in eastern Ladakh, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Beijing cannot threaten countries and bully them in the Himalayas.
Speaking at a news conference in London on Tuesday, Pompeo said China was one of the important parts of his discussions with his British counterpart Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
You can’t go make claims for maritime regions that you have no lawful claim to. You can’t threaten countries and bully them in the Himalayas. You can’t engage in cover-ups and co-opt international institutions like the World Health Organisation, Pompeo said.
Pompeo’s comment on Chinese bullying of its Himalayan neighbours came in response to a question if the US would like the UK to do more to confront China.
I don’t think about it that way; we don’t think about it that way. We think that the entire world needs to work together to ensure that every country, including China, behaves in the international system in ways that are appropriate and consistent with the international order, he said.
We talked about how we’ve seen Hong Kong’s freedoms crushed. We’ve watched the CCP bully its neighbours, militarise features in the South China Sea, and instigate a deadly confrontation with India, Pompeo said.
China recently staked claim over the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council and opposed funding to the project. (PTI)