⁍ China’s embassy to Suriname accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of ‘smearing’ Beijing.

---

⁍ P Pompeo critiqued Chinese companies’ business practices during the first stop on a four-country South America tour.

---

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

---

– China’s embassy in Suriname on Friday accused US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of “smearing” Beijing after he criticized Chinese businesses during a visit to the South American country, Reuters 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,” Pompeo said Thursday during a joint appearance with Surinamese President Chan Santokhi. China invested heavily in Suriname under former President Desi Bouterse, who oversaw an economic collapse and lost a re-election bid to Santokhi earlier this year. “Any attempt to sow discord between China and Suriname is doomed to fail,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement. “We advise Mr. Pompeo to respect facts and truth, abandon arrogance and prejudice, stop smearing and spreading rumors about China.”