U.S.’s Pompeo to meet China’s top diplomat in Hawaii seeking to ease tensions

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Hawaii, trying to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies over various issues, according to media reports.

Pompeo was planning the trip “quietly” and the arrangements were not yet finalized, Politico said.

Pompeo said last month that China could have prevented the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the world by being more transparent about the coronavirus and accused it of refusing to share information.

He also said Chinese plans to impose national security laws on Hong Kong would be the “death knell” for the former British colony’s autonomy.