TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Beijing likens Pompeo to a 'mantis' after latest US sanctions

Pompeo, one of the Trump administration's most vociferous China hawks, has spent his final days in office unveiling a host of measures targeting Beijing ahead of Wednesday's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

  (Agence France-Presse)
Hong Kong, China
Mon, January 18, 2021

Share This Article

Change Size

 Beijing likens Pompeo to a 'mantis' after latest US sanctions In this file photo taken on November 09, 2018 US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (2nd L) and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (3rd L) meet with Chinese politburo member Yang Jiechi (3rd R) and and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (2nd R) during the US-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue at the State Department in Washington, DC. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet a top Chinese official in Hawaii June 17, 2020 in the powers' first senior-level talks since tensions skyrocketed over the coronavirus pandemic, reports said. (AFP/Mandel Ngan)

C

hina on Monday likened outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to a "praying mantis" in a colourful condemnation of the latest US sanctions sparked by the mass arrest of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.

Pompeo, one of the Trump administration's most vociferous China hawks, has spent his final days in office unveiling a host of measures targeting Beijing ahead of Wednesday's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Among them was fresh sanctions on six officials -- including Hong Kong's sole representative to China's top lawmaking body -- in response to the recent arrest of 55 democracy activists under a new security law.

"Hong Kong's development from chaos to stability is unstoppable," Beijing's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in its first response to the sanctions on Monday.

"People like Pompeo are nothing but laughable praying mantises who are trying in vain to stop the rolling wheels of history."

The metaphor stems from an old Chinese idiom that describes futility in which a mantis tries to stop a chariot with its legs.

Dismissing US sanctions as "a political trick when all other tricks are exhausted", the office urged Pompeo to "wind up the show" -- a reference to his impending departure from office. 

On Saturday the Hong Kong government slammed the sanctions as "insane, shameless and despicable" -- one of a host of recent statements from the business hub's authorities that channel the rhetoric used by the authoritarian mainland.

Hong Kong was convulsed by seven months of huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019.

China dismissed the protests and has since overseen a widespread crackdown in the financial hub, including imposing a draconian security law last year that criminalises much dissent. 

At least 90 people have been arrested under the new law while many more face other charges linked to protests or campaigning for democracy. 

China says it has restored stability, while critics argue Beijing has shredded its promise that Hong Kong would maintain key liberties and autonomy when it was handed back by Britain. 

The US had previously imposed sanctions over the crackdown, including against city leader Carrie Lam who later acknowledged that she has had to rely on cash and can no longer hold a bank account.

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.