⁍ China’s embassies to Suriname and Guyana accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of ‘spreading rumors’ and ‘smearing’ Beijing.

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⁍ His comments came after a string of oil discoveries off the coast of Suriname.

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⁍ China lent and invested heavily in resource-rich Latin America during the decade-long commodities boom.

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– China’s embassy in Suriname and China’s embassy in Guyana both issued statements Friday accusing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of “smearing” Beijing, Reuters reports. “We advise Mr. Pompeo to respect facts and truth, abandon arrogance and prejudice, stop smearing and spreading rumors about China,” the Chinese embassy in Suriname said in a statement. “Any attempt to sow discord between China and Suriname is doomed to fail.” It said Pompeo should “respect facts and truth, abandon arrogance and prejudice, stop smearing and spreading rumors about China.” Pompeo’s criticism of China came during a visit to Suriname Thursday, where he said Chinese companies often did not compete on a “fair and equitable basis,” the AP reports. “We’ve watched the Chinese Communist Party invest in countries, and it all seems great at the front end and then it all comes falling down when the political costs connected to that becomes clear,” he said.