{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Secretary Pompeo's Interview With Laura Ingraham of Fox News - South China Sea", "slug": "secretary-pompeos-interview-with-laura-ingraham-of-fox-news-south-china-sea", "text": "
\"QUESTION:<\/strong> We\u2019ll leave China in just a moment, but the South China Sea, I think it\u2019s an underreported story. I know you just met with the leadership from the Philippines here. They were talking to China about some type of agreement. Real concerns about that, that trading path \u2013 $3.3 trillion worth of goods go through the South China Sea, and China has very strong territorial ambitions to dominate it.<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> They do. This was a place that this administration found itself when it came in; China had advanced during the previous eight years dramatically throughout the South and East China Seas. I did have a chance to meet with some of the Philippine leadership today and share with them our concerns. I think they share them as well. They understand, as do all of the countries of Southeast Asia \u2013 they\u2019d much rather deal with a United States and not be a vassal state for any other country.<\/p>\n And so America needs to remain engaged. We have important interests in the region. And if we do that, I am confident not only will we push back in a way that\u2019s appropriate to make sure that we have a free and fair and open Indo-Pacific, but those countries will benefit as well.\"<\/p>",
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