Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday brushed off a question about whether he would testify as part of a congressional impeachment inquiry shortly after President Donald Trump said he would "love to have" Pompeo and other top officials appear before lawmakers.

"When the time is right, all good things happen," Pompeo lightheartedly told reporters at the State Department.

The comments came in the course of a wide-ranging press conference during which Pompeo also declined to elaborate on whether he coordinated with Trump's personal lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to engineer the ouster of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Documents the department released last week suggest the chief diplomat had played a role in the dismissal.

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"I don't have much to say with respect to the Ukraine investigation," Pompeo said Tuesday. "We will continue to comply with all the legal requirements … so that the appropriate oversight can be conducted."

Pompeo also issued a stern warning for China following reports of the broad extent of its crackdown on Uighur Muslims in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang, as well as on other minorities. The secretary of state confirmed estimates of 1 million people being held against their will – a rare acknowledgement from an administration that has previously avoided criticizing the economic powerhouse with which it hopes to strike a new trade deal.

"These reports are consistent with an overwhelming and growing body of evidence that the Chinese Communist Party has committed human rights violations and abuses against individuals in mass detention," Pompeo said. "We call on the Chinese government to immediately release all those who are arbitrarily detained and to end its draconian policies that have terrorized its own citizens in Xinjiang."

The secretary congratulated the people of Hong Kong for conducting regional elections on Sunday – despite harsh crackdowns from Chinese officials in recent weeks that human rights advocates say amount to an attempt to bring the former British colony under tighter control from Beijing.

"The U.S. continues to support democeratic values and fundamental freedoms of Hong Kong," Pompeo said.