Mike Pompeo coldly welcomed in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Beijing began Monday with a tense meeting with China's foreign minister.

"Recently, as the United States engaged in an unbridled bidding war in the trade dispute with China, they took a series of measures on the Taiwan issue that undermine China's rights and issued baseless criticism. on its domestic and foreign policy, "lamented Wang Yi, speaking to the press with the head of US diplomacy.

"We consider that this is a direct attack on our mutual trust and has darkened Sino-US relations (...) We ask the American side to put an end to this kind of wrong measures" , he added.

"The problems you mentioned are related to a fundamental disagreement, we are very concerned about the initiatives that China has taken and I look forward to discussing them today because it is an extremely important relationship" replied Mike Pompeo, who came to inform his interlocutor of his recent talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Although they were punctuated by jokes and promises to improve bilateral relations, their statements to the press before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State House in Beijing were unusually vehement.

The two diplomats also blamed the cancellation of an interview scheduled for October in Beijing as part of the bilateral security dialogue.

Last week, US Vice President Mike Pence bluntly denounced Beijing's "malicious" ploys to weaken Donald Trump in the run-up to the mid-term elections or dangerous acts of the Chinese navy in the South China Sea.

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