Allies do not see Pompeo cancels last visit in office

　　The US State Department announced on the 12th that it would cancel all senior State Department officials’ visits this week, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s European tour scheduled to begin on the 13th, on the grounds that the State Department will hand over work in recent days.

　　The source said that the trip was cancelled because European allies did not want to see him.

[Busy handover]

　　The US State Department announced late on the 11th that Pompeo will visit Brussels, the capital of Belgium, from the 13th to the 14th. He will meet with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes.

The US State Department said that this will be Pompeo's last visit before leaving office.

　　Less than 18 hours later, the US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that the State Department was busy with the handover of the members of the State Department team planned by President-elect Joseph Biden, and therefore decided to cancel all planned visits this week, "including the Secretary of State’s European journey of".

　　The U.S. Capitol was violently attacked by demonstrators on the 6th, killing at least five people.

People are worried that similar mass violence will occur in the United States before the president's inauguration on the 20th.

　　US State Department officials emphasized that Pompeo's cancellation of his visit was for the handover of work, not for fear of violence in the next few days.

　　Ortagus said in a statement on the 12th: "We are committed to smoothly and orderly finishing the handover within 8 days."

　　Deputy Secretary of State David Hare, who is in charge of political affairs, is expected to serve as acting secretary of state from noon on the 20th until Biden’s candidate for secretary of state, Anthony Brinken, is approved by the Senate.

[Encountered a cold face]

　　Reuters reported on the 12th that a number of diplomats who did not wish to be named publicly reported that Pompeo cancelled his European trip for another reason, that is, the European side was unwilling to receive him.

　　During Pompeo's "Farewell Trip" originally planned by the US State Department, Pompeo visited Brussels and stayed in Luxembourg.

A diplomat said that because Luxembourg officials did not want to see Pompeo, the stop in Luxembourg was cancelled.

　　Luxembourg’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, spoke sharply in an interview with his country’s media on the 7th, criticizing US President Donald Trump as a “fire man”.

　　Another diplomat said that after the riots in the US Congress, allies felt "embarrassed" about Trump's hard-core subordinate Pompeo's visit to Europe.

This explains why there were no public activities at NATO headquarters or meetings with EU leaders in the US's original itinerary.

　　According to the original arrangement of the US State Department, during his stay in Brussels, Pompeo met with Belgian Foreign Minister Vermes on the 13th, and then had dinner with NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg.

　　After the Congressional riots, Pompeo only condemned the violence, and did not comment on whether Trump incited the demonstrators.

Since the 6th, many US cabinet officials have resigned.

Many large American companies have suspended political donations to some Republican lawmakers in order to "draw a clear line" with Trump.

　　At the beginning of the 2016 US presidential election, Pompeo publicly criticized Trump, and then quickly turned to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and replaced Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State in 2018.

Many American media believe that Pompeo's various actions during his tenure as Secretary of State are paving the way for himself, and his goal is to run for president in 2024.

(Guo Qian) (Xinhua News Agency Special Feature)