Pompeo says to visit Britain after Huawei ban decision

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday he will visit Britain and Denmark next week, days after London pleased Washington with a ban on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

"I leave on Monday for a quick trip to the United Kingdom and Denmark, and I'm sure that the Chinese Communist Party and its threat to free peoples around the world will be high on top of that agenda," Pompeo told a news conference.

Pompeo recently agreed to start a dialogue with the European Union on relations with China, as President Donald Trump's administration presses for a hard line against Beijing.

The Trump administration has been urging all countries to shun Huawei, a leader in fifth-generation internet, calling the company an arm of the Chinese state.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government agreed to the ban after US sanctions blocked Huawei's access to US chips.

Pompeo said that Johnson "got the complete right end of the stick" on Huawei but denied it was due to US pressure.

"I actually think they did this because their security team came to the same conclusion that ours has," Pompeo said.

"This information that tracks across these untrusted networks that are of Chinese origin will almost certainly end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party," he said.

Denmark's foreign ministry announced that Pompeo would hold a working lunch on July 22 and also meet in Copenhagen with representatives of its territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

President Donald Trump last year raised eyebrows by floating the idea of the United States buying Greenland, even though neither the island nor Denmark said it was for sale.

But the United States recently opened a consulate in Greenland's capital Nuuk.

The vast territory is rich in natural resources and maritime routes are quickly expanding around it due to climate change.

Pompeo's trip comes despite the coronavirus pandemic, with most transatlantic travel still banned as a safety precaution.