Pompeo says China 'was aware' of human coronavirus transmission before telling world, WHO was 'co-opted'

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Pompeo: If we're going to fight for freedoms abroad we need to protect them at home

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discusses the importance of human rights with Bill Hemmer.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Thursday that the Chinese government "was aware of human-to-human transmission" of the coronavirus "before they shared this with the world."

Hemmer had asked Pompeo to comment on claims by Hong Kong-based virologist Dr. Yan Li-Meng, who recently fled to the United States, that Beijing knew that the virus could spread between humans three weeks before that knowledge was made public.

Pompeo added Thursday that "the World Health Organization itself was co-opted into the same effort to deny the world the knowledge it needed to respond to this threat, to this threat from the virus that emanated from Wuhan, China."

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The secretary of state joined Hemmer a day after telling The Hill during a virtual summit that he believes the rest of the world will make China "pay a price" for their mishandling of the initial outbreak.

POMPEO: CHINA WILL 'PAY A PRICE' FOR CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

"I can see nations who are doing business in China who are rethinking about how to do that," he told Hemmer Thursday. "If you are buying products that are a result of the slave labor that's happening in the western part of China, if you're a country that's bent the knee to China because they tried to come fish in your waters that are rightly yours ... I can see nations all around the world that are reasserting their claims, their sovereignty.

"And of course President Trump's done that here too," Pompeo added. "For 40 years -- this isn't partisan, Bill -- for 40 years, we've had administrations that have just looked the other way and allowed China to trample on us. President Trump said, 'No more'."

Pompeo noted that Japan and Australia have supported the U.S. decision to reject most of Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL REJECT MOST CHINESE CLAIMS TO WATERS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA, POMPEO SAYS

"Countries, not only in Southeast Asia, but in Asia more broadly ... have come to understand the threat that the Chinese Communist Party presents. The United States slept on this for too long. I think they all did too and I think they're coming to a joint conclusion that it's time for the world to make sure that we get this right. For democracies and freedom-loving people around the world, it is an imperative that we push back against the challenge that the Chinese Communist Party presents to us all."

Pompeo also told Hemmer that there will soon be "a significant reduction of troops" in Afghanistan as that conflict nears its 19th anniversary.

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"We are hoping that we will get the peace and reconciliation negotiations going in the next handful of weeks," he said. "If we can do that we will have done a good turn for Afghanistan, we will have our young boys and girls all home, and we will secure security for the American homeland as well. This has been President Trump's mission. This is the way that he thinks about keeping America safe."