US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the press before boarding his plane at Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City, Mexico, Oct 19, 2018. [Photo/Agencies]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has just concluded a tour to Latin America in an apparent attempt to mend fences with countries in the region, as ties between Washington and its Latin American neighbors have been on a downward trajectory since Donald Trump became president.

While seeking to engage the region by touting the goodwill of the United States, Pompeo did not hesitate to stab China in the back, cautioning Panama and other nations about accepting China's loans under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The US top diplomat even pointed an accusing finger at Chinese State-owned enterprises for not being transparent and market-driven, alleging that they are pursing benefits only for the Chinese government. Such wild remarks are what we have come to expect from members of the Trump administration, being based on neither truth nor fact.

China and Latin American countries, though thousands of miles apart, have decided to upgrade and expand their reciprocal cooperation in recent years. They have decided to integrate their priority in bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China.

Viewing the Latin America region as natural participant in the 21st Maritime Silk Road, China looks to cooperate with countries in the region based on the principles of consultation and mutual benefits.

More important, rather than clinging to the outdated geopolitical maneuverings routinely adopted by some Western countries, especially the US, China is providing a new model of win-win cooperation in international relations.

In contrast, the vicissitudes between the US and various Latin America countries shows that the world's sole superpower continues to treat countries in the region as its subjects without due respect for their sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests.

Pompeo's latest undisguised message to Panama and other countries not to participate in China-proposed Belt and Road projects lays bare the US condescending and bullying manner to the region.

However, long gone are the days when Washington could dictate its will to those countries. The US will not succeed in disrupting China's legitimate and normal ties with these countries.

Washington continually tries this tired old tactic of trying to pin suspicions about China's motives on the Belt and Road so as hinder its advancement. Concerned that it undermines its own global status it continues to allege that it is creating "debt traps" for countries. And yet its warnings have repeatedly rung hollow and been shown to be nothing more than symptoms of its own insecurities, since the countries it so presumptuously tries to speak for continually refute these accusations.