Pompeo: Competition with China ‘not just a federal issue’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned governors of the United States on Saturday that China was targeting individual states to try and expand its economic and political influence.

The U.S.’s top diplomat addressed the state governors at National Governors Association meeting in Washington, telling them that a think tank controlled by the Chinese government had assessed all 50 governors on their attitude toward China and given each one a label: “friendly, hard-line or ambiguous.”

“So here’s the lesson. The lesson is the competition with China is not just a federal issue,” Pompeo said, the Associated Press reported.

“It’s happening in your states with consequences for our foreign policy, for the citizens who reside in your states and indeed for each of you,” Pompeo added.

The secretary also warned the leaders to be wary of Chinese investment and influence, especially through “diplomats, students and organizations,” according to the news source. 

Pompeo relayed similar concerns during his recent five-nation tour of Europe and Central Asia. While he was in London, he reportedly called the Chinese Communist Party “the central threat of our times.”