US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Sunday said that the United States can partner with several countries across the globe, including India, in view of the threat posed by Chinese military capabilities.
"With respect to the Chinese Communist Party's military advances, they are real. General Secretary Xi is intent on building out his military capabilities. Our Department of Defense is doing everything it can to make sure it understands this threat. And I am confident that under President Trump our Department of Defense, our military, our national security establishment will keep us in a position where we can protect the American people, and indeed we can be good partners with our allies from India, from Australia, from South Korea, from Japan, from Brazil, from Europe, all around the world," Pompeo told Fox News.
"We can be good partners alongside them and ensure that the next century remains a Western one modelled on the freedoms that we have here in the United States," he added.
Answering a question on recent India-China border stand-off, Pompeo said, "the Chinese Communist Party has been on this effort, on this march, for an awfully long time. They'll certainly use a tactical situation on the ground to their advantage. But each of the problems that you identified there is threats that they have been making for an awfully long time."
Pompeo further said, "For the first time, we have an administration that's prepared to actually respond to say this is unacceptable and to take responses that are measured, appropriate, but reflect the seriousness with which we take the obligation to protect the American people from these Chinese Communist Party efforts."
On 60 impending bills in US Congress relating to China, Pompeo responded, "I don't know which of those 60 will make it to the President's desk. I'm counting on the people of Congress. Your point about 60 is important. Many of these are bipartisan bills."
"...Last week there was one that had to do with the Uighurs in China. I would encourage the members of Congress to continue to study this issue, to work to help this administration do the things it needs to do to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from its advances and to keep the American people safe."
( With inputs from ANI )