Pompeo will travel to South Asia amid heightened security challenges from China

In further efforts to contend with security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region from China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo soon will visit a number of key international partners in South Asia, the U.S. top diplomat announced.

"This Sunday I'll depart for India, for Sri Lanka, for the Maldives, and then on to Indonesia," Pompeo told reporters at the State Department on Wednesday. "On every stop I will discuss a broad range of bilateral topics, but also work to find out with each of those countries the best ways that we can make sure that we cooperate to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The meetings, he said, will include "discussions on how free nations can work together to thwart threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party."

To that end, Pompeo said, the U.S. and the European Union will commence talks regarding mutual concerns about actions by CCP leaders in Beijing. 

An example of those concerns, Pomeo said, centers on the environment.

"Just this week, the CCP issued a 'fact sheet' that was — 'fact sheet' is in quotes — a 'fact sheet' trying to divert attention away from its own horrific environmental record," Pompeo said, citing China's record on greenhouse gases, ocean pollution, and other environmental matters. 

"We're pushing back on the Chinese communist propaganda efforts here at home, too," Pompeo said, timing his comments to coincide with the U.S. designating the American operations of six Chinese outlets as foreign missions.

"We're not placing any restrictions on what these outlets can publish in the United States," Pompeo said. "We simply want to ensure that American people, consumers of information, can differentiate between news written by a free press and propaganda distributed by the Chinese Communist Party itself. They're not the same thing."