{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Secretary Pompeo With Buck Sexton of The Buck Sexton Show - China", "slug": "secretary-pompeo-with-buck-sexton-of-the-buck-sexton-show-china", "text": "
\"QUESTION:<\/strong> A lot going on right now. China obviously the big focus from the international relations standpoint. There\u2019s a piece in The Washington Post<\/em> that says, \u201cChina wasn\u2019t wild about Pompeo before the virus. It\u2019s really gunning for him now.\u201d And then it seems to list a bunch of state media propaganda directed at you as if you\u2019ve somehow upset them. Mr. Secretary, what have you done to get the ire of the Chinese Communist Party?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Buck, what we\u2019ve tried to do, what Trump administration has tried to do is just very simple: We\u2019ve tried to get China to deal with us in a way that is fair and reciprocal. We saw it most clearly at the front of the administration on trade, but we\u2019ve done the same thing diplomatically, the same thing militarily, and then we\u2019ve had this moment, this moment where this virus began in Wuhan, China. And in spite of President Trump\u2019s best efforts, my best efforts, we\u2019ve not been able to get our experts in to figure out what actually happened here.<\/p>\n We have \u2013 we of course have two goals in that, right, Buck. We have the goal of figuring out what happened here, how did this go down, why did it get out, how did it spread all throughout the world, causing now more than 50,000 losses of life in America, a couple hundred thousand all across the world. But \u2013 so we need responsibility and accountability for this outbreak, but it\u2019s really important, Buck, we have to understand what happened to make sure something like this can\u2019t happen again. And so there are multiple labs inside of China and our understanding of what takes place there is pretty limited, and there have been examples of leaks from those labs before, and we\u2019ve got to \u2013 this has been expensive, costly, a calamity around the world. And we need to do our part and there is responsibility on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to make sure something like this can never happen again.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know as to why they keep saying these things about me. This isn\u2019t personal. This is about protecting the American people and we\u2019ll keep doing it.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> And what is the response you get from your Chinese counterparts in the Foreign Ministry when you say we just want greater access and transparency about something that is obviously affecting the United States and the whole world? Do they have a reason, a rationale for why we shouldn\u2019t get the access that we want?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> You\u2019ve seen the statements they have made publicly. They\u2019ve claimed that they have been transparent, but of course, at least as of a day or two ago, we still didn\u2019t actually have a sample of the virus. We were still working to try to understand what the scope of the risk was. Answers about where this came from \u2013 they claimed they didn\u2019t know, and then in fact those inside of China who have tried to talk about this, some of the people who have reported on it or those who have \u2013 doctors who tried to talk about this back in January or earlier this year \u2013 were denied access, were told don\u2019t talk about that, stop it. They banned discussions of this early on.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not the way partners work, reliable partners work. Reliable partners share. They open up, especially when there\u2019s trouble. They go overboard to make sure everybody can understand how it came to be. That\u2019s all we\u2019ve asked for. We hope that the Chinese Communist Party will see their way clear to allow the world to understand how the heck this virus got out of Wuhan, China and spread all across the world.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> We\u2019re speaking to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Mr. Secretary, I want to ask you: What about accountability? There\u2019s already been some discussion of possible lawsuits against the Chinese Communist Party. How that goes, how far they go remains to be seen, but down the line, could you foresee a situation where, if in fact it is proven that China acted irresponsibly to cover this up, once we\u2019ve gotten past obviously the most important thing right now, dealing with the virus, will there be accountability for the Chinese Communist Party?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> We \u2013 Buck, we\u2019ve been focused on the here and now, trying to keep Americans safe and healthy as best we can and to get this economy cranked back up again so people can get back to work, get out of their places that they\u2019re sheltering today. So that\u2019s been the predominant mission set we\u2019ve had with respect to the virus, but there will come a time when we need to make sure that we understand what happened here and those responsible \u2013 those who took actions that prevented earlier notice, those who took actions that allowed this virus to spread \u2013 we\u2019ve seen the narrative which is that this virus began and the Chinese Communist Party knew about it, didn\u2019t alert the world to it in a timely fashion. The President\u2019s talked about this. As we continue to investigate and we learn precisely what happened \u2013 I am confident that the whole world wants to know the answer to this because the world has a right to know what happened and then ultimately hold those persons or those nations who engaged in this activity that harmed the world \u2013 to find a mechanism to hold them accountable.<\/p>\n As you said, there\u2019ve already been some lawsuits filed in the United States. I don\u2019t know what precisely the right mechanism is and what the President will ultimately choose, but we will present him a set of options once we know all the facts that hold those persons responsible for this accountable.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> And in Hong Kong, there\u2019s been an additional crackdown from the Chinese Government. I know that\u2019s gotten some focus from you recently. Are they essentially trying to use the shroud of everyone dealing with this virus to get away with more repressive measures, and what can the U.S. \u2013 we have our hands full, obviously, with the virus, but to the degree that we can, are we able to push back a bit on the crackdown in Hong Kong?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> We\u2019ve made clear since early last year when we first started to see some of this activity in Hong Kong that our ask of the Chinese Communist Party was the same one that we make with respect to this virus: Show us what you\u2019re doing. You made a set of promises back in 1947. You made a set of promises about one country and two systems. Live up to those international commitments. If you do those things, Hong Kong can continue to be the thriving place that those who\u2019ve had a chance to travel there know. It\u2019s a big financial hub. It\u2019s a place that has a different system inside of China, but they have obligations. They have duties, promises not that we made or not that the British made, but that the Chinese Communist Party made, and we ask them to live up to them. That\u2019s what I said last week when we saw some of the actions that they were taking or at least contemplating taking, and it\u2019s what we continue to try and hold them accountable for. They have to live up to their international commitments. The world is watching these things and it\u2019s not hard to do. They ought to just simply do it.\"<\/p>",
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