Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo meets Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab amid growing stand-off with China
- Donald Trump ‘s top diplomat was in London to discuss China and other issues
- Came amid growing tensions over Hong Kong and persecution of minorities
- Mr Pompeo arrived in a Stars and Stripes mask to meet backbenchers
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo flew into London and the middle of a huge row with China today as he held talks with Boris Johnson and senior Beijing hawks.
Donald Trump’s top diplomat also met Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab amid growing tensions over Hong Kong and persecution of more than one million ethnic Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities.
Mr Pompeo, himself a noted critic of China, arrived in a Stars and Stripes mask to meet backbenchers at a London members club before heading to 10 Downing Street.
He was meeting Mr Johnson in a bid to pull Britain ever closer in Washington’s own diplomatic tug-of-war with China.
‘Social distance does not imply diplomatic or political distance,’ Mr Johnson joked as he walked Mr Pompeo into his office in Downing Street.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo flew into London and the middle of a huge row with China today as he held talks with Boris Johnson
Donald Trump ‘s top diplomat also met Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab amid growing tensions over Hong Kong
Mr Pompeo, himself a noted critic of China, arrived in a Stars and Stripes mask to meet backbenchers at a London members club before heading to 10 Downing Street
Afterwards, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘Joined by the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister and Secretary of State discussed the importance of Five Eyes countries taking an ambitious approach to working together on the technologies of the future.
‘They spoke about shared global security and foreign policy issues, including China’s actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, the situation in Iran and the Middle East Peace Process.
‘The Prime Minister and Secretary of State also underlined their commitment to negotiate a strong UK-US Free Trade Agreement that benefits the economies of both countries.
‘The Prime Minister reiterated the need for justice to be done for Harry Dunn and his family. He said there was a strong feeling among the people of the UK that justice must be delivered.’
The range of steps taken by Johnson in the past month threaten to bring an early end to a ‘golden decade’ in cooperation that former British finance minister George Osborne promised on a visit to Beijing in 2015.
London has also outraged Beijing by offering nearly three million residents of Hong Kong a pathway to UK citizenship in response to a highly controversial security law that China imposed on the former British colony last month.
Britain followed that up on Monday by suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extending an arms embargo of ‘potentially lethal weapons’ that had previously applied only to mainland China.
Arriving in London last night Mr Pompeo wrote on Twitter: ‘Great to be back in London to reaffirm the special relationship we share with our closest ally.
‘Looking forward to meeting with Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab as we tackle our most pressing global issues in combating Covid-19 and addressing our shared security challenges.’