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Pompeo Warns US Governors of Risks of Dealing With China

Cindy Saine

   U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning American governors of
   the risks of doing business with China, saying competition with China
   is happening on a federal, state and local level and it has
   consequences for U.S. foreign policy and national security.

   Pompeo spoke Saturday to a National Governors Association meeting in
   Washington,telling the governors he knewthey hadlikely been approached
   by people from China who wanted to invest in their states. He said
   economic ties with China couldbe mutually beneficial, just like in the
   first part of the trade deal President Donald Trump signed with China
   last month.

   But he warned that China hadstrategically assessed U.S. vulnerabilities
   and wasseeking to exploit the openness of the American system to gain
   advantage over the U.S. at all levels.

   'They labeled each one of you'

   Pompeo told the governors that last year, a Chinese government-backed
   research institution in Beijing produced a report that assessed all 50
   of America's governors on their attitudes towardChina.

   "They labeled each one of you friendly,hardlineor ambiguous. I'll let
   you decide where you think you belong. Someone in China already has,"
   he said.

   Pompeo said the report referenced many of the governors in the room
   byname, and hetold them the Chinese Communist Party was "working" them
   and the teams around them.

   He said economic ties with China couldbe great and powerful, but also
   sensitive to national security, warning: "What China does in Topeka and
   Sacramento reverberates in Washington and Beijing and far beyond."

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