Mike Pompeo hits out at China’s ‘bad behaviour’ over deployment of 60,000 troops along LAC

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit out at China for its ‘bad behaviour’ and the threats it poses to the Quad countries as they amassed 60,000 troops on India’s northern border. “The Indians are seeing 60,000 Chinese soldiers on their northern border,” AFP quoted Pompeo as saying.

The foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific nations known as the Quad group – the US, Japan, India and Australia – met in Tokyo on Tuesday in what was their first in-person talks since the coronavirus pandemic began.

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“I was with my foreign minister counterparts from India, Australia, and Japan – a format that we call the Quad, four big democracies, four powerful economies, four nations, each of whom has real risk associated with the threats imposed – attempting to be imposed by the Chinese Communist Party. And they see it in their home countries too,” he said.

The meeting took place in the backdrop of China’s aggressive military behaviour in the Indo-Pacific, South China Sea and along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Referring to his Quad ministerial meeting, Pompeo said that the three other countries Japan, India, and Australia were building out a coalition, build partners and allies around the world who understand the threat from the Chinese Communist Party in the same way that “we do so that they can protect jobs here at home”.

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“That only encouraged their bad behaviour, their malign activity. Our push back – they understand we’re serious about it. They’ve watched that we’re going to confront them and impose costs upon them. I am confident that this activity, over time, will change the nature of what the Chinese Communist Party tries to do to harm America,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Tokyo on Tuesday and they underscored the need to work together to advance, peace, prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the globe. He described his meeting with Jaishankar as “productive.”

India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh since early May that has significantly strained the bilateral ties.

Both sides have held a series of diplomatic and military talks to resolve the row. However, no breakthrough has been achieved to end the standoff.