Mike Pompeo says jailing of activists shows China's 'fragile dictatorship'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday denounced a Chinese court's jailing of Hong Kong democracy activists who tried to flee by boat, saying it showed Beijing's true face to its citizens.

"A regime that prevents its own people from leaving can lay no claim to greatness or global leadership. It is simply a fragile dictatorship, afraid of its own people," Pompeo said in a statement.