Historically, China has claimed that Taiwan, a democratic and separately ruled nation, as its own territory. This rather expansionist diplomacy is of a piece with Beijing’s anxiety to test the murky waters of Hong Kong, over which it regained control after Britain’s exit in 1997.
The top American diplomat made the remark in a media briefing in Hawaii, adding that the Trump administration is closely watching the Indo-China situation.
Trump said on Friday that the United States would ban some Chinese graduate students and start reversing Hong Kong's special status in customs and other areas, as Beijing moves ahead with a plan to impose a controversial security law.
On Wednesday, Beijing had refused to allow a formal Security Council meeting called by Washington on the same subject to proceed.
While being highly critical of China's handling of the matter, Pompeo declined to say whether he thought the virus had been intentionally released.
The number of those infected by the deadly disease surged to 189,618 in United States with over 4,000 deaths on Wednesday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has regretted the decision announced by the US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley at a joint news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
