{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Secretary Pompeo's Interview With Tony Katz of Tony Katz Today", "slug": "secretary-pompeos-interview-with-tony-katz-of-tony-katz-today", "text": "
\"QUESTION:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about \u2013 move it to where I would believe \u2013 and you\u2019ll correct me if I\u2019m wrong, sir \u2013 our two largest potential, if not actual, geopolitical foes: Russia and China. And part of what I believe we\u2019re seeing is a little bit of a return to more of a Henry Kissinger type theory that you don\u2019t get anywhere by not having a relationship with people; try to have relationships with people, specifically these two nations, so the other nation is more inclined to have a relationship with you.<\/p>\n In Russia, you still have a question about what\u2019s happening in the Ukraine. You have conversations about how they\u2019re trying to move into some of those Estonian nations. With China, it\u2019s the Spratly Islands, and trying to maintain control of the South China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and therefore build military dominance China is looking for. Who\u2019s the bigger threat? Where should Americans be paying more of their attention, I should say?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO: <\/strong>Tony, it\u2019s a really good question. I try to avoid ranking and prioritizing but rather just talking about the differences and the threats between those two countries. Russia is a much smaller economy, but still maintains an enormously large nuclear arsenal, which threatens not only the United States but the world. President Trump has been really tough. We have done things to put pressure on Vladimir Putin and Russia in a way that no previous administration has.<\/p>\n But to you point, we have also tried to find places where we can find common interests with Russia and with Vladimir Putin. I did it when I was CIA director on counterterrorism. We\u2019re trying to do this in different places so that we can have a relationship so that we hopefully can turn the nature of Russia, where they will cease these kinds of activities that are so troubling: interference in our elections or efforts to do so, the efforts that they\u2019re making in Ukraine. We\u2019re trying to push back against those and demonstrate to Russia that the benefit to those activities is not outweighed by the enormous cost that will be imposed if they continue them.<\/p>\n On China, conversely, this is a long-term challenge. This challenge is across every front. President Trump began taking on the challenge of unfair trade. We have very, very unfair trade with China and have had for many administrations, and he said enough. Fair and reciprocal trade is going to be demanded, and President Trump is determined to achieve that.<\/p>\n And then we have other sets of challenges, China\u2019s continued efforts in the South China Sea. Just this week, ten Chinese were indicted for stealing intellectual property, aviation-related intellectual property. These are not the types of actions that countries that truly want to be part of the global community engage in, and we\u2019re pushing back against China across every one of those fronts to try and achieve that on behalf of the American people.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> You brought up the trade war, sir. Tech stocks here in the U.S. \u2013 their worst month since 2008. NASDAQ dropping 9.2 percent in October. And in the Dow, there\u2019s a conversation about jitters regarding a possible trade war with China. Does that play into your figuring and factoring in dealing with China? The people of my state of Indiana paying very close attention to those tariffs and to this trade war.<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO: <\/strong>Yeah. President Trump\u2019s been very clear. We understand that there are risks to the American people. We\u2019re going to make sure that those don\u2019t take place. And I\u2019m convinced that the policies that we\u2019re engaging will benefit the people of Indiana. I\u2019m \u2013 Tony, I\u2019m from Kansas \u2013 some of the same sets of interests from the state from which I hail as well.<\/p>\n We are very confident that the policies that we develop with China, the trading relationship that we develop with China, will be better for not only tech companies but for agricultural interests, for industrial interests, for producers of real goods in the United States, in the heartland of America, in places like Indiana and like Kansas. They\u2019ll have real access to an enormously big and growing market in China in a way that we\u2019ve never had for them before. Our determination is to make sure that our producers here in America have the opportunity to compete with Chinese companies on a fair and level playing field, and we\u2019re very confident that the citizens of Indiana and businesses of Indiana will be successful when we achieve that.\"<\/p>",
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