Pope cancels Pompeo meeting

Pope Francis the world's Catholic leader, who was scheduled to meet with the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to discuss the Vatican-China agreement, declined to attend the meeting.

Iran PressEurope: The Holy See told US diplomats that the Pope's planned meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had to be canceled because it might be seen as a sign of interference in the US election, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.

Mike Pompeo earlier had criticized Vatican's continued talks with china, because of what is happening in the country's Xinjiang region.

In an article published this month, The US Secretary of State also wrote: "The human rights situation in China under the authoritarian rule of Xi Jinping has deteriorated, especially for religious believers."

Related news:

China criticizes Pompeo's Xinjiang-related claims: spokesperson

This is while, China, has denied all allegations of ill-treatment of Muslim minorities, stressing that claims by the Western world are untrue.

The US is pursuing hostile actions against China while Beijing has repeatedly denied any acts of violence against residents of Xinjiang province, including the Uighurs.

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