As noted yesterday, in a twice-delayed hawkish speech, Pence defended the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, while slamming both Nike and the NBA for kowtowing to Beijing.

Predictably, Beijing struck back on Friday, blasting the US's endemic racism and other problems that have "cast aside its morality and credibility." Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry, slammed Pence's "arrogance", and insisted that nothing could halt China's development. She also accused Pence of trying to disrupt China's "unity or internal stability" and said Hong Kong, Taiwan and the far west region of Xinjiang are "internal affairs" that are none of Washington's business, according to Bloomberg.

"The U.S. has already abandoned and cast aside its morality and credibility," Hua said. "We hope these Americans can look at themselves in the mirror to fix their own problems and get their own house in order."