US seeking new alliance to counter China with combined economic, military power: Mike Pompeo

"We can’t face this challenge alone. The United Nations, NATO, the G7 countries, the G20, our combined economic, diplomatic, and military power is surely enough to meet this challenge, if we direct it clearly and with great courage," Pompeo said on Thursday. "Maybe it’s time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies."

Pompeo also said the United States would like to build a coalition of countries to confront China and alter its behavior, but each country should come to its own understanding on how to confront Beijing to protect their interests.

"Every nation will have to come to its own understanding of how to protect its own sovereignty, how to protect its own economic prosperity and how to protect its ideals from the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]," Pompeo said. "But I call on every leader of every nation to start by doing what America has done – to simply insist on reciprocity, transparency, and accountability from the Chinese Communist Party. It's a cadre of rulers that is far from homogenous."

Pompeo said the like-minded countries must draw "common lines in the sand that cannot be washed away by the CCP’s bargains or their blandishments."

"Indeed, this is what the United States did recently when we rejected China’s unlawful claims in the South China Sea once and for all as we have urged countries to become Clean Countries so that their citizens' private information doesn't up in the hand of the Chinese Communist Party. We did it by setting standards," he said.

In addition, Pompeo acknowledged that some nations lack the courage to stand with the United States, but he emphasized it is important to do so in order to preserve the current rules-based order.

"The challenge of China demands exertion, energy from democracies [by] those in Europe, in Africa, in South America and especially those in the Indo- Pacific region," Pompeo added.

US-China relations have significantly soured in the past several years with Washington accusing Beijing of unfair trade practices, a poor response to the coronavirus outbreak, human rights violations and unwarranted territorial disputes with neighboring countries. China has denied accusations and criticized the United States for various violations of international law.