Colombo: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday described China as a 'predator' as he brought the Trump administration’s anti-China campaign to Sri Lanka, a nation considered particularly at risk for what American officials allege is Chinese exploitation.
Pompeo is visiting the country and the Maldives to press the two nations to be on guard against potential predatory lending and investment by China.
He was making the case less than a week before the US election in which President Donald Trump is seeking to paint his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, as weak on China and beholden to it.
Even before Pompeo arrived in Sri Lanka, China had fired back at the US message, accusing Washington of bullying smaller nations.
Read:|Pompeo calls on Sri Lankan prez; holds bilateral talks
Pompeo, who will also visit the Maldives and Indonesia, will press each nation to push back against increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
US officials complain development and infrastructure projects benefit China more than the presumed recipients - a refrain Pompeo repeated with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
Pompeo said the country could be “a beacon” for freedom and democracy in the region as long as it retained its "full sovereignty.”
“That is quite a contrast to what China seeks," Pompeo said. "The Chinese Communist Party is a predator. The United States comes differently. We come as a friend and a partner.”