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LONDON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday cheered the hardening British posture toward China and appealed for a global coalition against the country, blaming the Chinese Communist Party for what he described as exploitation of the coronavirus pandemic “to further its own interests.”
Mr. Pompeo made the remarks on a visit to Britain, which in itself was something of a victory lap for the Trump administration. It had previously indicated that Britain had to choose whether to side with Beijing or Washington on matters like China’s role in telecommunications infrastructure.
The secretary of state heaped praise on Dominic Raab, Britain’s foreign secretary, for his government’s decision last week to ban equipment supplied by the Chinese technology giant Huawei from the country’s high-speed wireless network, among other things.
“I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the British government for its principled responses to these challenges,” Mr. Pompeo said. “Well done.”