BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, once an intelligence chief, manages foreign affairs with a shady mindset revolving around lying, cheating and threats, a practice that flouts the conventions of international diplomacy.
He said "I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole ... We had entire training courses" in a public discussion at Texas A&M University in April.
"It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment," he gloated.
Such "glory" has been translated into numerous lies Pompeo told the press and the public, disguised as pompous excuses of serving U.S. interests.
On multiple occasions, Pompeo accused China of "rule-breaking," an unfounded countercharge, as the United States itself stands as the biggest capricious rule-breaker, inflicting woes on its unprepared allies, partners and competitors, and attracting strong rebukes in return.
Once a major designer of global trade rules after World War II, the United States has damaged its legacies by retreating from numerous world organizations, as well as deals fighting climate change and managing Iran's nuclear issue, all of which were achieved through the painstaking efforts of countries for the sake of world peace and prosperity.
Pompeo has also helped spread the rumor that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) lures some African and Asian countries into a "debt trap" of Chinese loans. However, this claim was met with dissent at home.
There is "scant evidence" indicating that China is "deliberately over-lending or funding loss-making projects to secure strategic advantages," said Deborah Brautigam, director of the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
"Fears that the Chinese government is deliberately preying on countries in need are unfounded," wrote the expert.
Threats are another tool in Pompeo's toolbox, a case being tech company Huawei. Claiming that the Chinese company's products pose security risks, the diplomat has used state power to suppress foreign enterprises' legitimate access to Huawei's products, and threatened to shut the door of intelligence-sharing with its allies who use te company's network.
However, when asked in a news program last month if there is evidence suggesting any spying activity involving Huawei products, Pompeo shunned the question, telling CNBC: "That's the wrong question."
An exaggerated sense of justice can cloud people's judgment. The secret surveillance program Prism already shocked the world with its eye-widening scale of illegal practices of cyber attacks and thefts, conducted even on some of its closest allies.
Serving as the top diplomat of a major power of the world, Pompeo seems to have shunned professionalism and the sophisticated art of communication and negotiation, instead resorting to lies, threats and muscle-flexing to pursue what he deems as "glory."
As the most important bilateral relations in the world, China-U.S. ties have been cultivated by generations of the two countries' diplomats who have upheld the principles of open dialogue and mutual benefits to make progress and manage differences.
It is evident that Pompeo's "intelligent" mindset will only end up hurting U.S. credibility. It won't bring any glory to his country.
