Mike Pompeo Blasts Biden for Making US Look Weak Citing Taiwan, China, Iran Policies

The former secretary of state cited reports about China allegedly testing a hypersonic missile this summer that purportedly took Washington by surprise. Beijing denied the report and insisted that it had tested a reusable space rocket, not a weapon.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed the current administration, arguing that its actions are showing "American weakness" to the nation's adversaries.

In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo brought up the Biden administration's reaction to reports China tested a new hypersonic missile in August that "surprised" America. While the administration did not directly confirm the reports, it said that it "welcomes stiff competition". In Pompeo's view, however, this is not the way to respond to China.

"The fact that they claim that they welcome stiff competition is so odd to say about [China]. These are not competitors, this is an adversary, who has made clear they want the world to look like their Marxist-Leninist ideologic world".

Mike Pompeo

Former Secretary of State

Pompeo went on to argue that the current administration had made the country look weak on several other occasions as well – with its handling of the Afghanistan pullout and the evacuation of Americans from there, with regard to the "preparation" for Iran going nuclear, and with its policy on Taiwan.

The former top diplomat argued that the Trump administration made its support for Taiwan, a de facto self-ruled island that Beijing considers a part of its territory, very clear and that it would help its people defend themselves against China. Pompeo said that the previous administration made a military course of action regarding Taiwan "completely unacceptable" for Beijing, while he can't say the same about the Biden administration.

"Those are all things where America is showing weakness. And when you do that, our adversaries will do everything they can to put us at risk and to crush us".

Mike Pompeo

Former Secretary of State

Even with the change in administration, Sino-American relations haven't altered much, with the new White House making China the focus of its policies, including on the redeployment of troops. Nor has the US reduced the number of its so-called freedom of navigation missions, under which it sends warships to the disputed waters of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait despite multiple warnings from Beijing.

The Financial Times recently reported that China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that took the US "by surprise" as it successfully travelled around the globe and only missed its target by a couple dozen miles. The newspaper suggested that such a hypersonic weapon could penetrate US defences by travelling over the southern pole, while American radars are concentrated in the north. Beijing itself rejected the report's findings, saying that it tested a new reusable prototype of a spacecraft and that the trial actually took place in July.