Opinion: Pompeo's attempt to revive Cold War won't succeed

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press briefing in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Mike Pompeo just wrapped up his second trip to Europe within a month where he spared no efforts to goad the European allies of the U.S. into his new "Cold War" campaign against China. But his fanatical policies have only been met with cold shoulder so far.

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- During his second trip to Europe in less than a month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unsurprisingly carried on his malign campaign, hurling insults at China, scrambling to indoctrinate "America's friends" with slanders and lies, and contriving to revive a Cold War.

Addressing a press conference with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Pompeo repeated his anti-China agenda, groundlessly calling the country a threat. To his dismay, the Czech prime minister did not echo his rhetoric, but said instead that Czech is "a sovereign country and I do not see any major threat here."

Tirelessly calling Huawei a threat, Pompeo provided no concrete evidence for his claim. On the contrary, as divulged by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks, it was the United States that has implemented a notorious global surveillance.

When the ink was not yet dry on the U.S.-Slovenia 5G joint declaration, local media pointed out that Pompeo's so-called threats to 5G, human rights and democracy are not about those values of Western civilization, but about who gets a bigger slice of the pie in the future business and consequently controls the world.

File photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows a Huawei 5G mobile phone testing speed in Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Center in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

On the issue of 5G and cyber security, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told a press conference with Pompeo on Friday that they have adopted a common position within the European Union.

He also noted that Austria "deeply" regrets the U.S. use of extraterritorial sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, adding they "would rather endeavor on or pursue the way of bilateral talks to find a common solution on this ground, on this matter."

The former CIA director embellished his trip to Europe with the purposes of safeguarding freedom and democracy, and protecting allies from existential threats. The mentality reflected the fact that a handful of U.S. politicians still believe America has a mission to save and dominate the world.

Driven by strong ideological biases, Pompeo delivered his infamous "new iron curtain speech" last month, which came from nowhere but the imagination and anxiety of a troubled soul mired in a Cold War mentality.

Unfortunately, under the influence of this mentality, U.S. foreign policy has often swerved from diplomacy to war, according to professor Jeffrey Sachs at Columbia University.

During the Cold War era, anti-communist fervor led the United States to fight multiple disastrous wars in Southeast Asia and Central America. While Americans are still languishing in those debacles, demagogues like Pompeo are seeking another Cold War.

Indeed, some might be prone to associate Eastern Europe with a Cold War. But by no means are the peace-loving people living in this region and anywhere else around the world fooled by Pompeo and his ilk into repeating the tragedy.

As a Czech proverb goes, "people are often caught in their own trap." Pompeo should realize his self-made Cold War trap could catch no one but himself.