US Secretary Of State Plans To Meet Chinese Officials In Hawaii

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is planning to travel to Hawaii to meet with Chinese government officials. Politico reported on Friday.

Pompeo, who has been vocal in criticizing China on a range of issues from the origins of the coronavirus pandemic to its Hong Kong policy to the treatment of its ethnic and religious minorities. He currently plans to travel again “silently,” but the travel arrangements have not yet been finalized.

The U.S. State Department and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

Relations between the economies of the world’s two largest countries have deteriorated in recent months, and US President Donald Trump has said he could sever ties.

Mike Pompeo said last month that China could have prevented the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the world by being more transparent about the coronavirus and accused it of refusing to share information.

He also said in last month that Chinese plans to impose national security laws on Hong Kong and it would be the “death knell” for the former British colony’s autonomy.