... But, Mr. Pompeo, we have the same problem here...
As the leader of the free world throughout the history of globalization, the United States has led the fight against authoritarian governments that oppress their own people. I can’t stop wondering who will save the American people (you and I) if we stumble into a dictatorship. With this trial appearing to come to a close because Republicans are choosing party over country, we have never been closer to that scenario, and I have no idea who can or will save us.
1
Second only to the current government of the United States, which leads an international movement to subvert constitutional democracy and replace it with an alliance of xenophobic plutocracies.
4
Trump or Clinton, the demented American ruling class would prefer World War Three to yielding global supremacy to China or any other nation. The atomic scientists have declared that the danger of nuclear war has never been higher than at present. The wars of US imperialism are the main threat to humankind and that most emphatically includes the American people themselves.
1
Russia has sold itself to Trump and conservative Republicans as Evangelical, gun loving, and most importantly, white in skin tone. In the end, it's always about race. Or money.
Conservatives always need a boogeyman, it's China's turn.
5
Pompeo certainly does a crackerjack job representing the current adminstration's policies. He's arrogant, vain and he speaks with the proverbial 'forked tongue' so many have come to loathe.
What country, trading partner, and/or ally would ever trust such a band of hot air?
6
Is Pompeo in the gradual process of inventing an enemy?
1
I guess he needed a plausible scapegoat to avoid acknowledging that the greatest threat to the country is the criminal insurgency masquerading as a presidency.
2
An Opinion printed today in the South China Morning Post ends by saying
“What is different since the 1980s reign of Ronald Reagan is that a conservative constitutional theory has been articulated to justify a “unitary executive” president. Sounds familiar? That’s because the Chinese constitution also defines the one-party state as “unitary”, unencumbered by checks and balances.
Far be it that China would evolve to be like America, in their 21st century rivalry, it’s the latter that will likely become more like the former.”
Pompeo thinks he is talking about China but he is describing his vision of America
3
In light of this weeks events concerning china espionage activites in the US, including arrest of the Harvard professor :https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/us/charles-lieber-harvard.html.
And the banning of chinese made drone use by the US interior dept this week: https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/department-of-interior-bans-chinese-drones/
Also the arrest of PLA members: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/harvard-university-professor-and-two-chinese-nationals-charged-three-separate-china.
In this instance, IMHO, the secretary is absolutely correct to characterize these folks as such.
2
"Pompeo Calls China's Ruling Party 'Central Threat of Our Times" China may threaten us in many ways, but Russia is more dangerous to our American democracy than China, especially with Mr. Trump in the White House. I truly believe that the biggest 'threats of our times' are Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump, Bill Barr, Mitch McConnell, Mick Mulvaney, Lindsey Graham, Devon Nunes, and 95% of complicit current Republican Senators and House members, Look at Mike Pompeo's unforgivable behavior with an American reporter from NPR, and his shocking performance in undermining Marie Yovanovitch. Watch Bill Barr's despicable lack of integrity in scamming the American people with the Mueller report, and his Banana Republic treatment of Trump's political opponents. When the truth doesn't matter, when it's more important to vilify American citizens for disagreements in policy, when covering up wrongdoing is the norm of the day, we truly have lost our American way. How I long for the days of George Walker Bush and Ronald Reagan. My hope is that somehow someway we return to civility, and realize whether Democrat or Republican, we must return to our American values, together.
2
Pompeo and Trump are the most immediate major threats of our time.
3
Ironic, coming from the Secretary of State of a government that is more aptly termed "the central threat of our times"...
3
Trump, Pompeo and Barr are the central threat of our times.
2
Actually Americans could care less about China's government. We are concerned about the threat posed to our democracy by Trump and the GOP.
5
Since Putin's Russia is China's little minion we should also be concerned with the shenanigans of the Russians. Oddly Pompeo and Trump don't see them as a threat.I guess questionable bank loans trump national security,
4
I would venture to suggest that Pompeo and Trump and the blinded Republican Party are the central threat of our times. Historians will view events they have ushered as the hinge point in the transition of the American Constitutional Republic to something different; the American Authoritarian Theocracy perhaps? Something more sinister, whose names would be considered "uncivil?"
2
USA has declared war on China. It's a good thing for Pompeo, Pence, Bannon, Navarro & Co. to openly bash China. It should kill off any fantasy still lingering inside the head of what some Chinese netizens called "Public Intellectuals" (Gōng Zhī), or their influence. They imagine that China can still be USA's friend. Tune them out. China should focus on executing their 2025 plan and become self-sufficient.
2
I wonder if Pompeo will dare to curse at a Chinese journalist.
Standing there and smiling with Mr. Raab while Great Britain stabs us in the back with Huawei is not comforting. A British company actually interfered in our presidential election. How are we still friends?
The central threat of our times is the Republican Party, not China.
3
Will probably antagonize friends over this comment (Much like my antagonism of a law school Criminal Law professor when I as a first year law student with youthful impudence declared in open class that it was categorically impossible IMHO for criminal defendants of color and of no economic means to ever be accorded a trial by a jury of their peers. Where would this jury come from?) Anyway, here i go again. While I categorically disagree with Pompeo's politricks, I do understand the sentiment. As a deft responder to ever-changing world events, Democracy - always overrated as a finely tune functional model of government -is slow, unwieldy and prone to being mired in 'navel gazing - like paralysis' in times of immediate crises. Perhaps the nerd in me should have never read "The Art of War".
2
China is a major threat. The central threat of our times, however, is Trump, Pompeo, Barr, Kavanagh, McConnell, Nunes, etc. They keep strengthening China and forcing other nations into alliance with China. Idiocracy indeed.
4
Wait a minute- I thought the axis of evil was N Korea, Iran and Iraq. Then Cuba, Libya and Syria somehow got lumped into the mix. Then Russia interfered in our elections. Now we are adding China to the list of evil empires? Who’s not on the list ( other than Saudi Arabia and Israel of course.)
5
Trump is the central threat of our time
4
The US administration long ago determined that Russia is an ally as would be a UK withdrawn from the EU. It has isolated itself from the EU and even its best traditional friend Canada. It has withdrawn troops and intelligence agencies from Africa, and expounded at great length against the United Nations Organization.
The president even tried to keep Congressional mandated funds out of the hands the Ukraine until he was caught by the whistle-blower (truly Red-handed in alliance with Putin). It temporarily threw away the alliance with the Kurds until it realized that oil fields would be left undefended.
Please notice that it has not withdrawn any of the naval or air forces from areas surrounding China, even though China (unlike Russia.
China is not the "central threat of our times." Pompeo has it wrong: the central threat to world peace and stability is the administration he belongs to.
20
Trumps not-so-mini Me.
SAD.
3
The central threat facing this country is the increasingly autocratic rule of Trump and the demolishing of the rule of law and the Constitution under this administration. While we are focused on the impeachment trial, Barr is busy today continuing to bend the Justice Department into a political weapon to be used in the service of Trump and his re-election. I’d gladly face the threat of China if we had a functioning government dedicated to actually protecting this country and our democratic institutions.
2
The primary harm “of our times” (whatever that means — from the perspective of traditional American values? — is America’s governance of free enterprise.
4
@Daniel Kauffman
Of course, good agreements must be negotiated or there is nothing to govern.
1
The central threat of our times is sitting on our hands.
3
Some one please remind this guy watch out his big mouth. If the Chinese got angry they might slow down to delivery the toilet paper to the US then all of us will have a big problem to solve.
3
@Lle
maybe then we (or should I say, Trump) wouldn't have to flush his toilets a dozen times.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has raised hundreds of million of Chinese people from abject poverty to middle-class economic status. The CCP sends entrepreneurs and engineers not soldiers to other countries.
Today the WHO thanked the government of China for its huge efforts to stop and cure the Wuhan coronavirus.
3
CCP killed and enslaved millions during the Cultural Revolution, and before and after during Mao’s reign of terror, later Tianemen Square massacre . . . , Muslims in prison camps, surveillance state . .
5
Pompeo took Minister Raab into his private living room off of the meeting area.
There, he screamed at Raab with a stream of expletives, shouting “”Do you even know where China is?”
He then had aides bring in a blank map of the world, and demanded that Raab point to China on the map.
Raab did so.
Pompeo petulantly groused that “you almost pointed to Bangladesh”, and angrily stomped from the room.
4
The real threat from China is the spread of authoritarian Communism which appeals to trump and sycophants. We are becoming more Chinese, giving away the people’s authority to self govern. Trump is jealous of Xi, self appointed lifetime “president” of China.
4
I think the biggest threat of our time is no-nothing, way out of their depths, mobster wannabes hijacking democracies the world over.
8
At the meeting of Arctic nations Mr Pompeo provided Canada with proof of who are biggest threat was when he questioned our authority over our inland waterways and Russia joined the Scandinavians in asserting Canada's rights.
We cannot defend ourselves against the USA and like Ukraine there is much we cannot say.
6
Mmmm. No.
That would be Trump.
And the effect is world wide, not just in America.
5
Wrong again "Pompous" the trump administration is a far bigger threat.
4
Trump is the central threat to our times.
6
Anybody familiar with China and its culture knows it’s not a threat to anyone. Pompeo is voicing the creed of the wealthy elite who fear that China’s economic growth and modernization will surpass the US. Indeed it has and will but because we no longer have the dynamic that is associated with progress. I don’t fear China. I fear Trump and Pompeo who act like authoritarians afraid to compete and trade with the world. I pray Trump is stopped before he brings us to war and failure like Nazi Germany.
9
The 'central threat of our time' is the fool in the White House and the sycophants like Pompeo that he employs. Neither of them understand an iota about geopolitics nor do they show the requisite intellectual curiosity required to grasp the world's complexities.
At pivotal times in this country's history we've been blessed with talented people in positions of leadership. That lucky trend ended with George W Bush during 9-11 and has continued with Trump and his moronic minions, who have infected our Federal government with their mediocre intellects, suffused with Trump's maligned version of our beautiful country.
5
It’s a pity that the Trump administration was so ignorant of international relations, and so confident was our President that he thought he could insult our allies and go it alone as leader. Well, “surprise-surpr-eyes” that kind of behavior is a threat to national security and has left our Stable Genius like the Emperor — without Clothes and our citizens likewise without security.
A nauseating piece of Lie-a-Day garbage.
6
The central threat of our time is the Trump administration. Welcome to chaos, a cabinet of ignorance, racism, misogynistic behaviour and no moral centre. I wonder how trigger happy they are, hmmmmm. Remember 2020.
4
Whatever. I'm sure China would say exactly the same thing about Donald Trump's United States.
7
I see a threat. Wasn’t this guy flagged not to receive a security clearance yet he did?
Trump administration has yet to reveal details of Jared Kushner's secretive 2017 meeting in China
PUBLISHED THU, JAN 30 2020 8:52 AM EST
UPDATED THU, JAN 30 2020 10:24 AM EST
Kayla Tausche
What wasn't on the White House or State Department agendas: a meeting with private equity investors convened by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior advisor, and U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad. During our conversation with Shong at the time, he revealed he had accepted the administration's invitation for Chinese investors to offer advice in a small-group forum with the two U.S. officials as they worked to outline the administration's policy.
"Both sides, of course, realize we have challenges," Shong said of the meeting's tenor, in our two-person interview setup in the lobby of the China World hotel. "From the investment point of view, I can see both sides can benefit a lot for the future investment opportunities."
1
The central threat of our times is King Donald and his court jesters. They will all be in jail before too long. Donald included.
6
Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.
3
This rant by Pompeo I can agree with. The chinese clearly are seeking world domination.
The central threat of our times is the GOP.
4
Pompeo is running for POTUS.
2
What timing! On the same front page: xenophobia is rising against China, and now this from our great statesman.
3
Pompeo, for all his education, is an idiot. I think he was at West Point. What does that say about West Point?
By the way, why do Americans always want to declare a war? Chew on this - you’ve never won a war on
your own. You won and lost the Civil War, were supported by the French and native bands in the Recolutionary War. The Mexican War? Yeah, that was an expeditionary action taken to steal Mexican sovereign land. Not a war. Vietnam? Korea? You’ve subverted entire races and driven them into the ground, including your Revolutionary War allies. That don’t take courage. Thanks, by the way, for the human fodder you added in WWI and pretty much the same for WWII. And the trucks... thanks. Late, of course, and millions of jews and other ‘non people’ died because of it. My grandfather was in WWI in 1916 (enrolled prior to his eligibility) and my father fought 1939 - 1945. Both fighting international scourges, while you fine folks picked your best entry point. Those are my heroes. Your ‘heroes’ deserve respect on an individual level. Your country, not so much. The Hollywood propaganda machine supporting your general insecurity, has tried to make it otherwise. Another fail.
3
When millions of people are suffering from the coronovirus in China, this is a crass comment from a world leader.
3
Nice job there, publicly disrespecting one of your most important allies' most important economic partners at a time when such partnerships are critical for their survival. Political acumen on display = zero.
But hey, you got to be a big, swaggering tough-talking manly man, just like when you totally schooled that silly reporter lady.
4
That's surprising. I thought Pompeo considered either Satan or uppity women reporters as the central threat of our times.
6
I doubt Pompeo could find China on a map.
43
@John
I am sure he could find it on his map it is right here between Gog and Magog.
7
Pompeo’s statement is the most important since Churchill sounded the alarm on Hitler while others were trying to quiet Churchill. Japanese invaded the nations bordering the South Asia Sea 30 minutes after the Pearl Harbor attack. Chinese control that sea now without ever having fired a shot. China is emulating pre-WW2 Japan while the greatest military expansion in world history is paid for by you, trading with China.
3
@ABC His statement is self serving claptrap tying to deflect attention from the damage being done by him and his cohort of clowns.
19
@ABC
There is no historical correlation at all to support your assertion.
4
It's ironic the statement coming from this administration. This administration has become synonymous other dictatorial administrations.
Never thought a day would come in the US where the US administration would be as bad as other autocratic leaders of the world, such as, China, Russia, Turkey, Iran and North Korea.
2
Pompeo went from Rep. in Kansas to Secretary of State. Wow, all that diplomatic training, not. I can’t believe anything he says, or does. As a tank commander, I guess he never learned how to tread lightly.
3
Today's GOP leadership and the Trump Administration (including Pompeo) are the greatest threat to the future of our nation's integrity, honor, patriotism, and peaceful existence among the nations of the world.
2
what a difference a day makes. ...what happened to the "axis of evil"? what did Putin do to get Russia off the list? host Trump in Moscow? should we ask Comey about that? China's not the problem.
2
Trade deal with Britain?
What do Americans even buy from the UK?
The only things I can think of are Jameson and Guinness. And those come from the part of the UK that wanted to remain a part of the EU...
2
Wow, Pompeo is actually right about something. I guess he’s not invested in China. Otherwise, I can’t imagine he would be so honest.
Still, if he uses most electronics, they are made in PRC.
Pompeo is a central pillar of the central threat of our times.
2
Actually, I'd say Trump, Pompeo, etc. are the 'Central Threat of Our Times.'
2
Actually, America's government is the central threat of our time.
2
Mike--no brainer here: trump and his enablers (you among them) are the central threat to our time. No contest.
2
That's funny.
I thought it was Trump.
2
The central threat is the Trump Administration.
2
Pompeo should look in his own backyard.
What about the threat in the Stained House?
2
None of America's allies or any other countries in the world join in the statement.
Sadly, it appears that -- in our so-called democracy -- we cannot find just four intellectually curious, truth-seeking Republican senators wanting to even question the witness in the "room where it happened." Not even four Republican senators willing to dig deeper into the dearth of evidence that could support or refute the need to impeach our president. The Chinese government is NOT a threat when compared to our administration. Trump, Pompeo, and the wimpy Republicans wield far more risk. Not to mention Putin, who is probably pulling the puppet strings!
3
If China is such a great threat why did Trump sign Phase 1 of the China /U S Trade Agreement with no gain on issues like intellectual property.
This Administration will say anything regardless of it being mis representation of fact.
29
“China wants to be the dominant economic and military power of the world, spreading its authoritarian vision for society and its corrupt practices worldwide.”
As opposed to, say, the Trump regime spreading its authoritarian vision for society and its corrupt practices worldwide. In Pompeo's statement above, if you replace "China" with "America under Trump" the validity of the proposition is unchanged. Both are equally true.
It's all about choices, and choices are about contrasts. A closer relationship with China has become more attractive to other nations as America under Trump has become more inept and poisonous. We no longer offer the world a clear reason to prefer us over China.
It's hard to win an argument based on asking people to choose between two equally malignant systems.
26
@woofer The Chinese government as a whole is looking out for the best interests of China, as opposed to the grifters in the trump cabal, looking out for themselves at the expense of the USA.
9
The "central threat of our times" is the Trump administration and the policies this president and his ignorant under-informed Cabinet members have put forth in the foreign arena as well as on the domestic front. Trump and Pompeo's "America First" policies have alienated us from our allies and made potential enemies of those who might have been persuaded by more intelligent advocates to cooperate in all phases of foreign policy. To call the Trump Presidency a "disaster" is too gentle a term for what Trump has brought upon future generations.
28
@RLW Spot on!
1
Trump is trying to secure a deal with China while his Sec. of State is condemning China in a foreign country. I have never in my lifetime seen such an absurd approach to working with our enemies. Is this a purposeful "good guy - bad guy" routine or is this administration so broken anybody at anytime can just say what feels good to them at the time?
Either way, this simply reinforces how utterly incompetent this administration truly is in leading or Federal Government.
14
@Bryan
There are hundreds of thousands of Canadians living in China and Hong Kong. We are caught in the middle between two countries with whom we share neither ethics and values. At the meeting of Arctic nations it was Russia and all the other Arctic nations that rejected Mr Pompeo's claims over our inland waters we call the Northwest Passage.
We live with America's quid pro quo every day and because we are not suicidal we keep our mouths shut.
7
Mr Pompeo has no business criticizing China’s Government after his behavior regarding non support for our Ambassador as well as lying and swearing at an NPR reporter. Pompeo and Trump point fingers and three times as many are pointing back. The State department was once our diplomatic core. Now it seems to be an arm of our corrupt Executive Branch.
20
Make no mistake about this, the central threat of our times is Trump, Barr, Pompeo, and the entire Republican Party. Get rid of every single one of them.
Never again.
39
The Republican party, by its senators, now has expressed the view that the President has free rein to do whatever he pleases if he believes it is in America's interest for him to be reelected. That seems not to preclude bringing in the military to bar the public from election sites, if the President thinks he likely would lose, and, in his naturally unbiased personal judgment, that would be against America's interest. I'm no fan of China, but I seriously doubt China is the "central threat of our times."
15
I'm confident that trump's relationship with N. Korea can turn into a real gamer in our relationship with China. The master negotiator will be able to affect major changes to our power in the region. Their
(Nuclear N Korea and Superpower China) combined influence over geopolitics and global security will be locked in for decades.
Sadly, it will be completely against the better interests of Americans and other democratic global citizens
8
I agree one 100% with Pompeo regarding his deep concern with China. I wouldn't trust China with anything it does. Their expansionist goals are not even concealed. They copy everything. They demand that companies disclose their trade secrets and bring their own people to work in third word counties to build them up and berry them in debts they know they can not honor.
The west has to be careful with their cheap products that rust and fall apart within a predictable period of a few months to a year or so. I will buy never any thing made in china, I will live without it rather than enrich a communist country that plays us like a fiddle.
7
@JG How do you not have TV, Cable, Internet, Cell Phone, Computer, Heat in you residence, Air Conditioning in your residence, a lightbulb, disherwasher, clothes washer/dryer, Car, Truck, Moped, shoes, pens, credit/debit card without having all or parts made in China? Not to mention the plugs and wall switches in your house, all the lamps you buy, the telephone (land line) you use, the circuit breakers in your fuse box - all made in China. You can avoid this by have "used" items from decades ago - but some you can't. How do you get around this, I would love to know. It seems we are trapped.
@JG
Sending such comments on a phone, tablet, or laptop manufactured in China no? Such arrogance.
The United States is, objectively, the most dangerous and destabilizing country on Earth. The recent Trump Middle East "peace plan" speaks to American morality and bigotry as clearly as anything else. The US starts wars, violates international law with impunity, facilitates violence against captive populations, and then has the nerve to, essentially, accuse China of everything it has already done. The US is dangerous and its needs to be contained.
33
@Shaun Narine
If you want to be on the receiving end of bigotry, move to China. How many years have you lived and worked in China?
1
Why has it taken so long for the US to admit that China is a serious threat? Everyone seemed to ignore this fact while US companies were making lots of money there. China is a tremendous threat to all free nations if the world. If their autocratic Orwellian society actually succeeds then it sets the precedent for the downfall of democracies across the globe.
6
@Mike L
So many people are blinded by Russia, Russia, Russia...
Maybe they're just afraid of the truth.
JG (above) has it right.
China is subjugating much if the third world through debt obligations.
They steal our technology and undermine American companies, while American consumers are just worried about how much things cost.
The Obama administration sat by, impotently, and watched them take over the South China Sea.
They are the major threat to watch, and we would be wise to ally ourselves with Russia. We have way more in common with them, than the Chinese.
1
The central threat of our time is our human tendency to substitute wishful thinking and tribalism for reason and evidence. It is what enables otherwise rational human beings to act as if the climate crisis isn't an existential threat and to convince themselves that Donald Trump is a great leader. What we have here is a classic case of, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
16
It's not convincing that the CCP is the central threat if the UK went about with Brexit, seriously weakening the unity of western countries.
Perhaps a greater threat than the CCP is the complacency in western countries to the point where partisans seem to embrace foreign meddling over domestic opponents. I'm sure Democrats do that, but I have in mind Republicans who prefer Russians over Democrats.
9
Trump is the biggest world threat that we have right now. Once he is gone, maybe things will improve worldwide.
23
Right wing populists need hobgoblins to frighten people with so they can promise to protect the people from the imaginary dangers. The latest right wing hobgoblin is China, perhaps because Muslims were found to insufficiently frightening?
Actually, Russian state agents hacked social media to promote Mr Trump’s candidacy in 2016, an unfriendly act if there ever was one. Under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, Russia is attempting to recover the territory lost when the Soviet Union failed. Russian military adventures in Ukraine are motivated by that policy. A stronger Russia is not in the United States best interests because Russia actually is an adversary, so I disagree with with Mike Pompous; Russia is the greatest threat.
The second greatest threat of our times is Donald Trump, whose pervasive corruption, self-dealing, blatant racism, religious bigotry and numerous criminal acts destabilize the United States and severely damage our international reputation.
For the most part, the Chinese just want to make money doing business with us. I’m okay with that concept.
14
I guess it must be an "alternate reality" as I have always thought since 2017 that Putin's Donald Trump is the "Central threat of our time" with his periodic tear-down of and tariff wars against our traditional allies.
But Mr. Pompeo, who was the head of the discredited CIA (by his boss, Putin's Donny) of course wouldn't know that.
10
As usual Pompeo got it wrong again - It's the Trump administration that's "the central threat of our times."
22
@Saints Fan Maybe you should stop watching Fox News.
1
It is very difficult to determine whether America's or China’s ruling party is the greater ‘central threat of our times.’
6
Speaking of threats to the world, not so long ago, a prophetic spiritual leader spoke of "The greatest purveyor of violence in the world."
He noted specifically in this speech, that "[this was] not addressed to China or to Russia."
Hmm, I wonder if we know which country he was talking about...
8
Trump, Pompeo and the Republicans are the central threat of our times by undermining American democracy. China and Russia are side threats.
I wonder if Pompeo asked Mr. Raab if he knew where China was on the map. Maybe he carries a world map in his back pocket to spring of anyone he feels is trying to bully him.
10
Has there ever been a less qualified Secretary of State? Oh wait, this the Trump administration.
16
@Harvey Green Yes, named Hillary Clinton. Other than travel guide a lot, what did she ever accomplish?
I believe George Soros said the same thing not too long ago. We are really down the rabbit hole now.
Hypocritical and not surprising that Pompeo and the Trump administration do not think that proven Russian meddling or their own sinister meddling in our elections and the elections of other democracies around the world do not present a threat to our national security.
5
An attempt to divert us from the fact that Trump and Pompeo are the central threat of our times.
10
China will not take this seriously - nor should we. Pompeo is an incompetent, way in over his head, fool. Rational, calculating , intelligent leaders like Xi - and even Putin - are not going to take the bait here. I believe all the world’s leaders who are still hooked into reality ( whether or not it’s a reality we like) take everything Trump and his minions say with a grain of salt. They watch what they do - and respond (not react) accordingly. They don’t hit back with Trump’s penchant for insults. They wait, and piece by piece, take advantage of America’s precipitous slide into moral irrelevancy, disrespect, and autocracy.
The thing is, even in autocracy, we will have C string players, while China will have A players with years of experience in high class , behind the scenes, diplomacy. China does not tout it’s rising power - it just keeps building on it.
8
Sorry, my wholehearted belief is that TDump and Pompeo are the central threats to our country and our planet.
Please, someone with power step up and save the US!
10
This "threat" mentality should have ended with McCarthy. As they say, "Nobody can make you upset except yourself". If we weren't so insecure about ourselves as a nation, nobody could threaten us. The fact that someone else is successful should not feel "threatening".
3
Methinks he should look much closer to home.
8
"China wants to be the dominant economic and military power of the world,..."
Yes, totally unlike the European nations in the 1600-late 1800s, or America in the last century.
Pompeo would benefit from a look in the mirror, as not to inadvertently sound hypocritical.
10
Jingoism has never played well in that neck of the woods. The newspapers will have fun with it though.
2
Not that anyone has illusions about China...
but that's the point, isn't it.
The Central Threat of our Times is Donald J Fearless Leader of Absolutely Nothing.
11
All that talk about cutting the UK out of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing arrangements if Huawei built the UK's 5G network was just bluff?
4
China, if you’re listening...
2
central threat of our times is Trump and the Republican party.
11
Trump and Republicans are the central threat of our times. Pompeo swore at a female reporter. Trump took away health benefits thru Medicaid. Democracy teeters on a knife edge over a cliff
15
Base on Trump’s rally speeches, I thought it would have been immigration, of any kind.
3
Solidarity with the people of China
3
@Felix Lasheras The people (including dissidents and religious and ethnic minorities) yes. The PRC government, no.
1
Dear Honorable Mike Pompeo,
What about the Russians?
8
@Armo
BTW, I use the word, honorable, extremely loosely.
2
Sorry, but it should be clear to every single American by this point that the greatest threat to our country now comes from within - Donald J. trump and his lackeys like Pompeo.
11
Wrong! The greatest central threat in our times is Donald Trump and his associates in government.
Real American patriots need to get on their marching shoes.
RESIST!
10
China is thousands of miles away across the Pacific Ocean. Republican gun nuts hold frequent rallies in Washington State, just south of our border.
So no, Mike, China is not the enemy here. Not my enemy, and not the enemy of the clear-thinking and patriotic Americans I have come to admire for their resistance to this clear and present hysteria.
14
Pompeo is wrong. The Republican party, with its total denial of global warming, is the most dangerous organization in the world. Every day this "know nothing" party is in power is one less day to address this planetary emergency. Vote them out of office!
13
How diplomatic.
3
The Trump Cartel and its henchman like Pompeo are the biggest threat facing the free world today.
9
Gee, maybe Trump shouldn’t be doing personal delas with China then, huh?
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-zte-order-after-china-gave-millions-to-trump-organization-tied-project-2018-5
4
no pompeo its trump and you who are the biggest threats in the world - trump for being himself and you for being his enforcer of criminal activities. after trump what happens to you ? fat farm ... best option ...
5
2nd behind the Trump administration.
6
Ridiculous. China the great threat? As I just said, ridiculous.
3
Unlike Israel and Russia, neither China nor Iran hacked, meddled and interfered in the 2016 Presidential election and campaign in order to get Donald Trump elected President of the United States.
Unlike Saudi Arabian based al Qaeda, ISIS. Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 9/11/01 hijackers neither China nor Iran have ever attacked nor threatened to attack the American homeland.
Mike Pompeo is occupying the non- existent American government Cabinet positions of Prime Minister, Secretary of War, Minister of Propaganda and Sycophant to Israel and Russia.
8
@Blackmamba
Pompeo is also Sycophant to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab States.
1
But can he find China on a map?
8
Sure, Mike! And up is down and white is black, too!
6
Did Mr.Pompeo ask British foreign secretary Raab if he could find China on a map?He probably did not, because he saves that inexcusable behavior for an American reporter who was respectfully doing her job.He proved then and there that he does not approve of our valued First Amendment.If free speech inconveniences him he will do his best to squelch it.That is not the behavior of someone who should be an American patriot.
39
clear them all out 2020
8
How can China be the central threat in our time when Trump asked for its help in investigating the Bidens?
59
How is it so that China is "the central threat" to the US per Pompeo?
Didn't we just sign a great new trade deal with them?
How can Mike say this while Don says otherwise?
37
@Berkeley Bee ...and doesn’t Ivanka Trump have a series of exclusive licenses sponsored by Pres Xi ?
There has never been a clearer test of critical reasoning skills than whether you support the policies of the Trump administration. Foreign policy, global warming, healthcare, democracy and human rights around the world are succumbing to the corruption and greed of Trump. He is getting away with all of it because of McConnell et al.
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@AGoldstein ...democracy is not a spectator sport ...
And let me guess he said Russia is now our closest ally because they deliver electoral wins for his party
31
@R Republicans love the Russians since they get millions from them for their re-elections and are happy to help them launder a little too.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/05/08/how-putin-s-oligarchs-funneled-millions-into-gop-campaigns/
1
Is it just me, or do you think tRump and the republicans are going to move the US into a dictatorship?
The sheer audacity and lock step behaviour on display seems to indicate that they believe they will in charge for a long time.
Should any vote go against them, they will declare it 'crooked' and have it invalidated.
17
I am dumbfounded as to how anyone with a pulse can declare Trump innocent!
5
Ah the Chinese way. Limit voting to members of just one party, predetermine the outcome, and call your system “democratic”. Be careful what you wish for.
1
@Gdnrbob I have to take exception to what you have written. I don’t like the way Trump conducts himself but the administration under his direction has never refused to obey a court order. They challenge and appeal rulings that go against them, but they do follow the court’s directions. As far as declaring any vote that goes against them as crooked, I think maybe you are thinking of a Hillary and the a Democrat’s. It’s what they ha e been doing for 3+ yeasts now.
The central threat of our time is the United States. Period.
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@Check His Power Now ...democracy is not a spectator sport. These elected representatives are, by there inaction, playing for “the other team”...WE must vote every one of them out because this version of the political class has absolutely no concern, nor fear, of the 300+ million people who consented to their representation of us; or else the children of this country be our first generation to grow up to the horrible sights, sounds and the unGodly smell of human death on our streets, suburbs and cities...
“Throw the bums out” !
Pompous Pompeo shouldn't be the secretary of state, but the
secretary of war. He really doesn't have much diplomatic skill to start with, and hasn't shown much in his capacity, but displayed much hostility toward China in attempt to start an all out war, cold or hot, with the most populous country in the world. Even though I don't think he is not very convincing, but he is walking on a dangerous path.
11
@Bill Whitehead
He does know how to eat and eat very well. He was hired because central casting needed a fat person who mumbles and states nothing. Pompeo does a very good job of that.
4
The central threat to our times is climate change, and trump and his minions, who do nothing about it.
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Does any rational person believe anything Pompeo (or his boss for that matter) has to say at this point?
34
Funny Pompeo thinks China and leaders are a threat while his boss Trump envies the power one leader can have. Trump goes out of his way to befriend dictators and despots . Now who do you trust ?
20
Mike Pompeo warning about China being "the central threat of our times" is disgusting and just a little ironic! China is not nearly the dangerous threat to our democracy that Pompeo and Trump are.
This corrupt administration is highhandedly destroying this country with their subversive and seditious policies, claims and conspiracy theory's. The Trump administration
pose a clear and present danger to the nation.
Besides,didn't Trump invite China's involvement in domestic problems?
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You could use that headline to describe mike pompeo.
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The central threat of our time is the Trump administration, the sycophants who support it, and the elected officials who put party over country and constituents.
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@sibearman Trump will be voted out.
1
Even if I were to agree that the “system” of China is the number one threat, and the UKs approval of Huawei conceded to that threat, Pompey was just making Iran the number one threat last week and ratcheting up to war. Pompeo and Trump are too stupid to prioritize and too arrogant to name a few priorities that our allies will meet. So it looks like the US is wandering the globe telling allies it wants it all, right now, or else, and the allies are going to throw up their hands with the (probably correct) conclusion that the US can’t be placated short of unconditional surrender.
14
Really China? The biggest threat by far to Democracy is Trump, his cabinet and Moscow Mitch. Oh and let’s not forget the cowardly Republicans.
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I am wondering if Pompeo can point to and knows where China is on a map.
26
@Mike near trumpastan
1
Trump and his enablers are BY FAR the central threat of our times.
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Like most of the nonsense that flows from the mouth of Pompeo, this is false. The, obviously, largest threat is from the same folks who are probably lining Pompeos retirement fund, the Russians.
26
If Mike says it; it must be wrong.
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Isn’t it the Russians who are poisoning people in the UK and hacking their and our elections?
Let’s blame the Chinese...
17
Sorry, Mikey. The greatest threat of our times is Trump and people like you who support and enable him.
23
No. A rogue organized crime magnate president and his faithfully arrogant and incompetent lackey of a Secretary of State are a global threat of end times proportions.
22
Not really Mike, the central threat to "our" times is the man you work for!
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@Chris Yoder I tend to agree with you. However I'm becoming very concerned with what I see as Trumps alienation of other aspects of the UN Declaration of Human Rights as a President would apply to the people he swore to represent - Articles 1-2, right to dignity, liberty, equality, Articles 18-21 right to freedoms of thought, expression and peaceful associations, Article 22-27, right to standard of living including housing and healthcare. Manifested in his simple "communications" and uneducated, ill-considered responses and uncoordinated foreign and domestic policies.
3
@Chris Yoder
“President Xi is a good man, he’s a friend of mine,” Trump said during a rally in Ohio."
4
@Chris Yoder You are totally right we can change our leaders,that is not the case with China.
3
Can’t Pompeo just rapture up and be done with it?
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@db2 Oh God, yes! And please take Trump et al. with you.
2
More like “rapture down”.
1
Pompeo looks more deranged with each passing day. I guess when you hang with Trump.. Trump rubs off on you. I actually thing the term "infects you" is even more appropriate.
When questioned by reporters about Ukraine and his involvement.. he gets into a food fight with the reporter, and then has said reporter banned from State Department flights.
But he has absolutely no problem jumping out from behind a rock at Trumps command to bash and trash any nation, or anyone, or anything.
The guy is a walking talking hypocrite of the highest proportions.. not to mention a complete Trump boot licker.
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@Chuck Look at what Trump has caused in Republican Senators: Senate derangement Disease, aka the Madness of The Donald and the Idiocy of Dershowitz.
1
Xi is an amateur compared with Putin. Clearly Pompeo’s an amateur too.
20
Grotesque, as are the 100% negative, jingoist and utterly partisan, biased, dishonest -i.e. propagandist- anti-anything-china drivels that the NYT has been propagandizing daily for at the very least this last couple of years, part of the US "free press" [sic] recurrent agenda of indoctrinating their audience against the latest fabricated foreign villain that military-industrial-congressional-media complex decided to plant on their vilifying to do list.
Meanwhile the world at large rightly consider the US -that definitely militaristic and hegemonic bully- as the "greatest threat to peace in the world" (WIN/Gallup international) simply by acknowledging the constantly criminal and nauseous US foreign policy that it has been enduring for decades, its warmongering and meddling for the worst, from Yemen to Iraq, from Libya to Syria, from Venezuela to Cuba, you name it, arming "rebels"/terrorists, fomenting civil wars and coups, trying to bully when not starve millions while supplying war crimes and the worst humanitarian disasters on earth.
11
Yo! Stand in front of a full length mirror with your buddy Don right beside you. Now, what were you saying?
17
Pompeo's all-pervasive pomposity, a-la-Trump, probably is hitting new headlines. One has to admit Pompeo's blistering attack on the Chinese policies and its behavior are well warranted. Some may opine that the Arabs, the communist countries, and other autocratic nations will turn their deaf ears and their Nelson's eyes to free elections, due processes, and independent court systems. As a consequence, the abysmal atrocities they commit in their own, and, often, in other countries need to be met with stern warnings and actions, forthwith.
For instance, Chinese are notorious for stealing intellectual property, and indulgence in piracy and industrial espionage, almost ad nauseum, but, they will not admit to any type of wrong-doing. They will continue to deny and lie thru their teeth until the latter hurt. Such clandestine activities need to be met with grit and determination cloaked under diplomacy, of course.
Trump and Pompeo, despite their personal shortcomings, may have something here, when it comes to dealing with Chinese. On the other hand, one wonders why such teeth-gnashing facades of those two are lacking when it comes to dealings with Turkey and Saudi Arabia and Russia. This behaviors of Trump and Pompeo have tended to remain recondite, but personal and financially vested interests may be at play here. It may be anybody's guess.
7
@Vernon Experience has shown the power of China, she is waiting her time. Oh wait, Trump and Pompeo don't engage in Intel or military briefings do they......
Statements about the threat posed by the Chinese government, while legitimate, would sound so much more credible if coming from any American administration other than Trump's.
Mike Pompeo is clearly a threat to journalists and needs to be jettisoned.
34
Pompeo is not wrong. He is one of the few Americans who came up through a similar meritocratic authoritarian system: the US Army. In CCP he sees a likewise organization that gets things done, unlike current messy and divided state of our democracy.
1
Not to worry Britain. The “special relationship” will surely get you at least a 5% reduction in the tariffs that the Donald will be threatening you with in your upcoming negotiations with Mr. America First. On the other hand, you are about to find out first hand what Europe not having your back means when dealing with a massive but very fragile ego.
16
To America, the most serious threat comes from Trump, his Administration, and Senate Republicans who have no problem with betraying their oath of office and their oath of impartiality in the impeachment trial.
The Republican Senate is a domestic threat.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
26
From a trade perspective, Secretary Pompeo is probably right about China. But how about from a perspective of just being dangerous? As a Cold War kid I grew up believing that Russia was threat #1, and sadly I don't see what's changed. So where's Russia on this list?
Oh wait, I forgot...for some strange reason Pompeo's boss President Trump is in servitude to the Russians. And this affects so much, such as how Trump has been impeached partly because of his effort to prove the conspiracy theory fairy tale that it was the Ukrainians, not the Russians, who subverted our 2016 election.
17
No. When it comes to preserving our Republic, the Trump-Pompeo-McConnell troika, aided by the Fox evening lineup and two Trump SCOTUS justices is--clearly--The Central Threat of Our Time.
32
I must say I harbor a very deep dislike for Mike Pompeo. I could go on for pages as to why (but I won't). However, he is absolutely spot on when it comes to the people who rule China.
7
Please stop puffing out your chest Secretary Pompeo. It is unbecoming to our country. Seeing conflicts in every direction appears to be faulty vision and an incongruous mindset. Diplomacy is an art form, not a military strategy. The arc is long but you might want to read up on ancient Chinese philosophy.
Thanking you in advance for reconsidering your actions.
12
If they are “the central threat of our times” why is Trump asking for their assistance in gaming our elections? What's with these people?
They know what Trump is doing is worse than wrong, they KNOW it jeopardizes the country's national security but instead of doing something to stop it ... THEY ASSIST IN MAKING IT A GREATER THREAT!
14
Pompeo: Trumps Stupid Translator. Changing the Toddler level vocabulary and syntax into “ intelligent “ speech.
God Help Us.
12
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Gee, it would have been OK, though, if he had used Hillary’s reset button instead, huh...
2
@EGD Irrelevant. Missing the point.
1
Here in England, very few people know who Dominic Raab is, let alone the sinecure he occupies. Even fewer people like him. Yet, it is truly unfortunate that he has been photographed stood beside
Mr. Pompeo. In China, Raab will now be associated with the asinine, obtuse commentary of Pompeo. I'm not sure if even Raab deserves that.
17
Do we believe the most corrupt person to ever hold the office?
Hands down the most corrupt.
28
@gene
Really? The most corrupt?
I still remember Bill Clinton allowable the sale of American missile technology to China for campaign cash.
James Riady, Johnny Chung, ad nauseam.
Absolutely nothing touches that.
3
Trump and the Republicans said it is fine to receive foreign help to get elected so Democrats should call dibs on China.
9
No, sir, look in the mirror, then at your boss. And most of all look to Czar Putin. There are the threats. I would call Trump, Pompeo, and Putin a Global Triumvirate, but that implies equal power. The truth is this "president" via his loyal servant Pompeo are no less than puppets being controlled by that Grand Puppeteer in Russia. Oh, how joyful Putin must be watching our Constitutional democracy go down the tubes, to wit, this sham of a "trial."
62
Weird. The greatest threat in the present day is actually radical, irrational people like pompeo and barr, who support destructive forces like trump.
32
The Central Threat Of America is the Republican Party who are clearly involved in criminal collusion with the president of the United States. Donald Trump is a proven criminal, now fully supported by the Republican Senate who are in turn supported by the Republican party.
25
@John
Or maybe Trump was just trying to get to the bottom of Joe Biden using his VP office to grift a job with Burisma for his unqualified, drug-addled son, huh...
1
@EGD Sure he was./s.
1
@EGD
So last I looked Hunter was a grown man who doesnt need his father telling him what to do
Unlike the Trump boys who have never held a real job, or who steal other mens wives. Or go big game hunting to shoot endangered animals they are just so busy.
Maybe Trump Jr. wanted that job since he is such a corrupt human beings the gOP party brought his best selling book and then the book signings ended along with the daughter who has trade copyrights from the most dangerous country in the world China per woman hater Pompeo.
So stop with the smugness you must live in David Nunes district sounds like something he would say
The central threat of our times is our lack of investment in education. If the US lacks the competitive edge of producing goods and services better it doesn't matter what others do. We should be pouring cash into STEM fields. Not sitting around whimpering about big bad Chna. "They" are not the problem. It's our allocation of tax dollars to fat cats like Trump friends who are not reinvesting them in human capital.
14
Most of the responses you read to this story will be pro China and most likely centrally coordinated. CCP has no ideology except staying in power and growing Chinese wealth. Anything that stands in the way of those two goals will be crushed. I don’t like much about this trump government but they are spot on when it comes to China.
3
That is the most startling instance of the pot calling the kettle black I have ever seen.
What has the Trump Administration and Pompeo done to make the world less safe, less peaceful, less stable, and less suitable as a place for our children and grandchildren to inherit?
1. Pulled of the Paris Climate Accords. Additionally they have consistently fought against the facts of climate change and repealed many of the clean air and clean water standards of the Obama Administration.
2. Pulled out of the Iranian Nuclear Agreement, making more likely Iran develops a nuclear weapon. At the same time they have rattled the saber at Iran and have greatly increased tensions there.
3. Cozied up to dictators around the world.
4. Supported Saudia Arabia and provided weapons for its proxy war in Yemen.
5. Reversed support for NATO that has been a stable US security tool for over 60 years.
6. Promoted US weapons sales to many countries around the world, even to natural adversaries like India and Pakistan.
I am sure I have missed several actions of Trump and Pompeo specifically aimed at rousing their militant base and weakening forces that are striving to support people in the world who need our assistance to better their lives, not weapons to fight wars.
151
@Dennis
I'll just pick a few from your list of twisted topics:
4. Supported Saudia Arabia and provided weapons for its proxy war in Yemen.
Support for Saudi Arabia has been solid from the past five presidents. I would like it to be re-evaluated but at least he didn't bow to them in public.
5. Reversed support for NATO that has been a stable US security tool for over 60 years.
Ridiculous to say support was reversed. Insisting that the other members live up to their obligations instead of freeloading off of the US taxpayer is more than appropriate.
The Chinese government is indeed the primary strategic economic threat to the US, as well as many other countries, given its current government's policies. It's bellicosity in the APAC region is still more bark than bite, but it will become problematic.
However, we face a greater military (nuclear) threat from Russia, which has also become very good at asymmetrical electronic warfare against the US.
In either case, name-calling of the CCP by the Secretary of State is not going to improve our economic or military standing v. China, nor will soft-selling he persistent attacks upon our democracy by the Russians.
Pompeo is offering no strategy, no plan or doctrine by which we would offset these threats. He simply offers sound bites to support his boss' tactic of the day. China isn't capitulating on trade negotiations? Declare them enemy #1! If they are beset with disease, suggest that companies should move away to the US or Mexico (a la Wilbur Ross)! Plays well to the base!
None of this will have much useful impact in real terms; but then again, real terms are not the currency of the current administration.
17
@MassBear
China is not an economic threat to the US...unless you consider free market competition to be a threat.
And if you take the position that free market competition is a threat.. then you are anti-capitalist in bias.
And if you try to play the "but China is not fair in trade and cheats" meme... then you are taking the position of hypcrit.. because western nations (particularly Britain an the US) invented the capitalistic methods of doing anything and everything in order to win in an economic competition.
7
@Chuck
Ok, "Chuck", since when is slave labor, dumping and industrial espionage part of capitalism? They are illegal in most capitalist countries.
Then why is his party so focused on single-party rule?
20
@Holden Korb
You mean more so than the current president of the United States?
As an American.. you are living in a glass house and throwing stones here.
1
Seems like this guy just wants conflict
19
Actually, multiple surveys around the world uniformly recognize the United States and its government as the greatest threat to the world. But Americans have never much respected democracy when the popular sentiment doesn’t go their way.
93
Yes, we're really popular to knock, and we've worked really hard to get there. But the whole "No one is worse than the US" thing?
I know plenty of history, and more than a little political science. Ask the Uighurs about human rights. Look at the actions of the IRA in St. Petersburg, or Russian Unit 29155 if you wonder about democracy.
Yes, I would be happier with a stuffed animal sitting behind the Resolute desk, but Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi are NOT improvements.
@Mary
Please quote one LEGITIMATE source and the link.
Wrong. Trump, Pompeo and the destruction of our democracy by the GOP are the central threat of our times.
207
@Tom Short
There is no "democracy" when the loser of the popular vote -i.e. the will of the people- ends up planted in office, like this has been the case 2 out of 5 times this century. There is no "democracy" when a whole nation is brainwashed daily with factless narratives and propaganda, and rendered unable to form any -actually- informed opinion; a decade ago it was almost all because of Faux news and a handful of partisans rags and fringe front-groups, nowadays i regularly fail to find one single US news outlet not peddling the very same geopolitical propaganda, differing only on their side of the political divide on domestic issues.
3
@Sensi
The US Senate, is where less than 40% of the population can elect a majority of Senators.
The Senate represents tyranny by the minority.
3
@Tom Short You are comparing a country who has beaten, executed and thrown millions of people in concentration camps for their religious and political beliefs just within the last couple of years with Donald Trump, a guy who wants a secure border, fair trade deals and has the highest black and Latino employment numbers ever?!
2
... Said the pot, calling the kettle black.
106