Pompeo to meet Chinese delegation in Hawaii: sources

[NFA] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to meet a Chinese delegation at a U.S. military base in Hawaii this week to discuss bilateral ties that have soured deeply since the start of the year, sources familiar with the matter said.

Libby Hogan reports.

Sources tell Reuters that top U.S. diplomat Mike Pompeo plans to meet a Chinese delegation this week in Hawaii.

They say the two sides will hash out their increasingly rocky relationship and the group plans to meet at a U.S. military base.

In recent months the world's top two economies have been at odds over the global pandemic.

In mid-May President Donald Trump even went so far as to suggest he could cut ties with Beijing.

And Trump has initiated a process of eliminating special U.S treatment for Hong Kong but stopped short of an immediate cutoff.

"We're very, very saddened by what happened to our relationship with China." China also hasn't minced its words and instead the Foreign Ministry has told the U.S not to interfere and "stop inflammatory actions." A diplomatic source told Reuters that Pompeo's meeting this week is expected to take place at Hawaii's Hickam Air Force base.

Another source said he was expected to leave Washington on Tuesday (June 16) for the meeting on Wednesday.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper cited an unidentified source saying that Yang Jiechi, a Chinese state councilor will lead the Chinese side.

The sources say the agenda includes a long list of sore spots including the coronavirus, Hong Kong, North Korea and tit-for-tat moves against both countries' journalists.

The State Department and White House did not respond to requests for comment about the trip.