Mike Pompeo portrays Mar-a-Lago breach as Chinese 'threat'

Washington: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said that the attempt by a Chinese citizen to enter the private Mar-a-Lago resort without authorisation is an example of the "threat that China poses" to the United States.

"I think this tells the American people the threat that China poses, the efforts they're making inside the United States, not only against government officials but more broadly," CNN quoted Trump as saying on a CBS morning show.

A Chinese woman named Yujing Zhang was arrested after she tried to enter the resort last week. The resort was purchased by US President Donald Trump in the 1980s. She was carrying a thumb drive with malicious malware, two Chinese passports, four cell phones, a laptop and a hard drive when arrested from the private club.

She reportedly made her way past a security checkpoint at the club shortly after noon last Saturday and told security officials she was there to go to the swimming pool.

"Zhang additionally did not give a definitive answer when asked if she was there to meet with anyone. Due to a potential language barrier issue, Mar-a-Lago believed her to be the relative of member Zhang and allowed her access onto the property," a court document quoted by The Washington Post said.

Trump, responding to the incident, said that he was not concerned at all, praising the receptionist at the resort for swiftly alerting Secret Service agents once the Chinese national started behaving suspiciously.

"The result is they were able to get her, and she is now suffering the consequences," the US President added. The FBI is looking at the possibility of espionage. Pompeo, meanwhile, has said that the incident was discussed during the trade talks between US and China.

"It's one of the topics that's being discussed in these trade negotiations. The theft of American intellectual property is big business, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, and President Trump is determined to push back against it," the US Secretary of State added.

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