Hard to address evidence that's behind the paywall of an organisation where there's concerns over editorial independence. I found an archived copy of the article you linked [0] only to find a nested link [1] for the meeting with Pence & Pompeo, which I could not find an archived copy of. As far as I can tell, the claim of admitting to lobbying could be massively overblown.

[0] https://archive.ph/Dc7U7

[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3017868...