Pompeo in the Vatican: "Constructive discussion". Lunge to China: "Investments are not for Italy"

Mike Pompeo leaves the Vatican, greetings from Cardinal Joseph Murphy

• US-Vatican: Pompeo in Rome, but the Pope does not meet him, clash over Chinese bishops

• Mike Pompeo in Rome: meetings with Conte, Parolin and Di Maio

• Parolin: "Pompeo's surprise on our relations with China"

Share

02 October 2020With the Vatican "we had a constructive discussion. We have shared goals," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview with Fox News released in Rome, after the missed meeting in the Vatican with Pope Francis replaced by Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

"We urged them to take a stronger position, to express their testimony against these violations (of human rights) taking place in China", Pompeo reports, responding to the US appeal to the Holy See not to renew the agreement with Beijing on the appointment of the bishops.

"With President Donald Trump, the United States has been working on the issue for three and a half years - he remarked - and we continue to ask for a better life for the Chinese people. For us it is important and for me it is also a personal matter as a man of faith. I hope that together we will achieve better results for religious minorities in China. "

"He is a busy man. We planned him a little late. He does not always meet the foreign ministers as well", Pompeo replied about the failure to meet with Pope Francis on the occasion of his visit to the Vatican.

"They made it clear that on my next trip we will be able to do it (the meeting) and I hope to come back soon and have a chance to talk to him. It was a nice meeting that we had exactly one year ago. And I hope to have a good meeting. again the opportunity to see him as soon as possible ".

"It's something the American people are asking their leaders to talk about, and that's what I was doing. I was honoring the power of the Catholic Church, its ability to do moral good all over the world. I am deeply convinced ".

Thus, Secretary of State Pompeo explains his decision to launch a public appeal to the Church with an editorial in the magazine "First Things", not to renew the agreement with China on the appointment of bishops.

"We urge" the Church "to continue to use its persuasive power, its ability to influence the hearts and minds of people around the world to improve the lives of people who find themselves in very difficult situations, even in China".

The US administration has been "fairly consistent in calling for better rights, religious freedom around the world. The president, our first president to pass an executive order on religious freedom, spoke about it in deeply personal terms to the United Nations."

"When China presents itself and wants to invest in your ports, it is almost certainly not for the good of the Italian people", the US Secretary of State refers to the agreement on the Silk Road signed between Italy and China .

"They can come with the money, it can feel good, the deal can be an important transaction at any given time, but there is a huge cost, a huge price. The absence of political freedom that will follow most of these agreements are real and we have urged nations - the US remarked - to be reflective while they commit themselves, to make sure they are doing it in a way that actually benefits their nation ".

"Whether it is Chinese infrastructure here in Europe, telecommunications infrastructure, or port systems, we have seen the Chinese - he warned - use their commercial face, their commercial footprint to make their business better and safer. people and extend their influence in these countries politically, and from a security perspective that is not constructive. "

"Repatriating and prosecuting terrorists is the most effective way to prevent them from returning to the battlefield," Pompeo continued.

His praise for Italy concerns the arrest in Syria of the foreign fighter Alice Brignoli, 42, repatriated with her 4 children, "who will now have the possibility of a better life".

The woman had gone to Syria with her husband and children to fight with the caliphate's army. "Italy has demonstrated its constant commitment by repatriating an Italian citizen who is accused of being an ISIS supporter in Syria and will be subjected on trial ", observes the head of US diplomacy.

Washington "praises the Italian government for the important example" by "encouraging" all nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens who went to Syria and Iraq to support Isis ".