Gloves come off

On Oct. 4 as American citizens were gripped by the drama surrounding Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and Chinese citizens took time off for a weeklong national holiday, Vice President Mike Pence gave the administration’s strongest rebuke of the Chinese Communist Party and how it engages its own citizens and the rest of the world.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., Pence reviewed the history of China-U.S. relations, criticized present Chinese policies, and detailed how the United States plans to defend its interests. “Beijing is employing a whole-of-government approach, using political, economic, and military tools, as well as propaganda, to advance its influence and benefit its interests in the United States,” Pence said.

While most headlines focused on Pence’s claim that China is trying to influence the upcoming midterm elections (pointing to Chinese tariffs targeting pro-Trump states and a China Daily insert in The Des Moines Register), the most stunning part of Pence’s speech is the broad range of grievances he raised, many of which had never been raised so forcefully or by such a high-ranking U.S. official.

Pence criticized the Chinese Communist Party’s unfair economic policies, intellectual property theft, militarization of the South China Sea, and debt-trap diplomacy in countries such as Sri Lanka. He also mentioned a recent near-collision between a Chinese navy vessel and a U.S. warship that was practicing freedom-of-navigation exercises in the South China Sea. “We will not be intimidated; we will not stand down,” Pence said.

He went on to decry human rights abuses inside China such as the persecution of Christians, the detainment of 1 million Uighurs in Xinjiang, and the creation of a high-tech surveillance state. Pence also blasted China for using its economic prowess to pressure overseas businesses and academics to toe the party line and restated the United States’ support of Taiwan. “America will always believe that Taiwan’s embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people,” he said as the audience applauded.

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Pence’s speech was filled with “unwarranted accusations against China’s domestic and foreign policies and slandered China by claiming that China meddles in U.S. internal affairs and elections.”

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, also had sharp words for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during an Oct. 8 meeting in Beijing to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea. Wang criticized the Trump administration for “ceaselessly elevating” trade tensions, as the United States announced $250 billion of tariffs on Chinese goods in response to unfair trade practices such as forced technology transfers. Wang also claimed the administration was “casting a shadow” over U.S.-China relations.

Yet even as China defended itself from Pence’s statements, the government demonstrated its disregard for human rights by arbitrarily detaining Meng Hongwei, the Chinese president of Interpol. Meng went missing after traveling from France, where Interpol is based, to China on Sept. 29. His wife, Grace Meng, said the last message she received from her husband on WhatsApp was the emoji of a knife.

On Sunday, China announced that Meng was under investigation on “suspicion of violating the law” and monitored by China’s new anti-corruption body. A few hours later Interpol received his immediate resignation. Meng is the highest-profile official to be caught in President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, which he has used to crush political opponents.