{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Secretary Pompeo's Remarks at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting - China", "slug": "secretary-pompeos-remarks-at-the-national-governors-association-winter-meeting-china", "text": "
\"Last year, I received an invitation to an event that promised to be, quote, \u201can occasion for exclusive deal-making.\u201d It said, quote, \u201cthe opportunities for mutually beneficial economic development between China and our individual states [are] tremendous,\u201d end of quote.<\/p>\n
Deal-making sounds like it might have come from President Trump, but the invitation was actually from a former governor.<\/p>\n
I was being invited to the U.S.-China Governors\u2019 Collaboration Summit.<\/p>\n
It was an event co-hosted by the National Governors Association and something called the Chinese People\u2019s Association For Friendship and Foreign Countries. Sounds pretty harmless.<\/p>\n
What the invitation did not say is that the group \u2013 the group I just mentioned \u2013 is the public face of the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s official foreign influence agency, the United Front Work Department.<\/p>\n
Now, I was lucky. I was familiar with that organization from my time as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.<\/p>\n
But it got me thinking.<\/p>\n
How many of you made the link between that group and Chinese Communist Party officials?<\/p>\n
What if you made a new friend while you were at that event?<\/p>\n
What if your new friend asked you for introductions to other politically connected and powerful people?<\/p>\n
What if your new friend offered to invest big money in your state, perhaps in your pension, in industries sensitive to our national security?<\/p>\n
These aren\u2019t hypotheticals. These scenarios are all too true, and they impact American foreign policy significantly.<\/p>\n
Indeed, last year, a Chinese Government-backed think tank in Beijing produced a report that assessed all 50 of America\u2019s governors on their attitudes towards China. They labeled each of you \u201cfriendly,\u201d \u201chardline,\u201d or \u201cambiguous.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll let you decide where you think you belong. Someone in China already has. Many of you, indeed, in that report are referenced by name.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s the lesson: The lesson is that competition with China is not just a federal issue. It\u2019s why I wanted to be here today, Governor Hogan. It\u2019s happening in your states with consequences for our foreign policy, for the citizens that reside in your states, and indeed, for each of you.<\/p>\n
And, in fact, whether you are viewed by the CCP as friendly or hardline, know that it\u2019s working you, know that it\u2019s working the team around you.<\/p>\n
Competition with China is happening inside of your state, and it affects our capacity to perform America\u2019s vital national security functions.<\/p>\n
I want to set the context today for this topic.<\/p>\n
At the end of the Cold War, America started to engage with China heavily. It made good sense. We thought that the more we interacted, the more it would become like a liberal democracy, like us here in the United States.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t happen, and you all know this.<\/p>\n
Indeed, under Xi Jinping, the country is moving exactly in the opposite direction \u2013 more repression, more unfair competition, more predatory economic practices; indeed, a more aggressive military posture as well.<\/p>\n
You should know this doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t do business with China. I had an operation when I ran Century International. We had a small office in Shanghai. We can find places to cooperate when our interests converge.<\/p>\n
You can see that in the first part of the trade deal that President Trump got done, signed last month.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re happy about that. It was the right thing to do. That was indeed a deal that was good for both the United States and China. And these economic ties are powerful. They\u2019re important and good. They\u2019re good for your state; they\u2019re good for America.<\/p>\n
Look at the nearly 18 tons of medical supplies the United States just flew to China this past week to help fight the coronavirus. Yesterday we announced more than $100 million in assistance to China and the countries that are affected by that virus.<\/p>\n
And on that note, too, I want to take just a moment to note I want to send my condolences to the loved ones of the United States citizen who fell victim to the coronavirus in Wuhan over the last days.<\/p>\n
But while there are places we can cooperate, we can\u2019t ignore China\u2019s actions and strategic intentions. If we do, we risk the important components of our relationship that benefit both countries.<\/p>\n
The Chinese Government has been methodical in the way it\u2019s analyzed our system, our very open system, one that we\u2019re deeply proud of. It\u2019s assessed our vulnerabilities, and it\u2019s decided to exploit our freedoms to gain advantage over us at the federal level, the state level, and the local level.<\/p>\n
Last year, I announced that I would give a series of speeches on China, and this is part of that. It\u2019s the context in which state and local government officials ought to think about the way they lead with respect to our relationship. It\u2019s important. China matters.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been part of my mission at the State Department to mobilize all parts of the United States Government. I was out in Silicon Valley a couple weeks ago to talk to America\u2019s leading tech companies about this very set of issues.<\/p>\n
And I need your help, too.<\/p>\n
What China does in Topeka and Sacramento reverberates in Washington, in Beijing, and far beyond. Competition with China is happening. It\u2019s happening in your state.<\/p>\n
In fact, I would be surprised if most of you in the audience have not been lobbied by the Chinese Communist Party directly.<\/p>\n
Chinese Communist Party friendship organizations like the one that I referenced earlier are in Richmond; Minneapolis; Portland; Jupiter, Florida; and many other cities around the country.<\/p>\n
But sometimes China\u2019s activities aren\u2019t quite that public, and I want to talk about some of that today. Let me read you an excerpt of a letter from a Chinese diplomat. It was China\u2019s Consul General in New York sent a letter last month to the speaker of one of your state legislatures.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what the letter said in part. It said, quote, \u201cAs we all know, Taiwan is part of China\u2026 avoid engaging in any official contact with Taiwan, including sending congratulatory messages to the electeds, introducing bills and proclamations for the election, sending officials and representatives to attend the inauguration ceremony, and inviting officials in Taiwan to visit the United States.\u201d End of quote from the letter.<\/p>\n
Think about that. You had a diplomat from China assigned here to the United States, a representative of the Chinese Communist Party in New York City, sending an official letter urging that an American elected official shouldn\u2019t exercise his right to freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
Let that sink in for just a minute.<\/p>\n
And this isn\u2019t a one-off event. It\u2019s happening all across the country.<\/p>\n
Chinese consulates in New York, in Illinois, in Texas, and two in California, bound by the diplomatic responsibilities and rights of the Vienna Convention, are very politically active at the state level, as is the embassy right here in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Maybe some of you have heard about the time when the Chinese consulate paid the UC-San Diego students to protest the Dalai Lama.<\/p>\n
Or last August, when former governor Phil Bryant of Mississippi received a letter from a diplomat in the consul\u2019s office in Houston, threatening to cancel a Chinese investment if the governor chose to travel to Taiwan. Phil went anyway.<\/p>\n
Last year, a high school \u2013 a high school, a high school in Chicago \u2013 disinvited a Taiwanese representative to serve on a climate panel after Chinese pressure.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing to pressure the Secretary of State of the United States of America. It seems quite something else to go after a high school principal. It shows depth. It shows systemization. It shows intent.<\/p>\n
Chinese Communist Party officials, too, are cultivating relationships with county school board members and local politicians \u2013 often through what are known as sister cities programs.<\/p>\n
Look, this Chinese competition is something you all know. It sits in the back of your mind. But you have many duties and you are busy people. But this competition is well underway. And while these might seem like local matters to some, the cumulative effect is of enormous national importance and international significance.<\/p>\n
Of course, too, our public educational institutions are another arena of competition with China.<\/p>\n
I know, governors, you don\u2019t run these institutions on a day-to-day basis, but you often have impact on the people that do. The FBI director and I think the Attorney General, too, talked yesterday about something called the \u201cThousand Talents Plan.\u201d It\u2019s a plan to recruit scientists and professors to transfer the know-how we have here to China in exchange for enormous paydays.<\/p>\n
The program has probably targeted campuses in your state. Indeed, the Department of Justice has indicted professors in my home state at the University of Kansas and at Virginia Tech and at Harvard.<\/p>\n
A Texas A&M investigation reportedly discovered more than 100 academics participating in Chinese talent recruitment plans. Only five of them had declared that they were participating in this program.<\/p>\n
And goodness knows what else we have not discovered.<\/p>\n
There are indeed very credible reports of Chinese Government officials pressuring Chinese students \u2013 students studying right here in the United States of America \u2013 to monitor fellow Chinese students and to report back to Beijing.<\/p>\n
One very prominent pro-democracy Chinese student on a college campus in the Northeast last year received death threats \u2013 death threats for exercising his right to free speech. The FBI became involved.<\/p>\n
Make no mistake about it: We want talented, young Chinese students to come study in the United States of America. I see it at Wichita State University. These are wonderful young people. We ought to encourage them to be here. But they shouldn\u2019t have to fear the long arm of Beijing, which often reaches out via groups like the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.<\/p>\n
Look, that\u2019s just one of many campus groups directly influenced by the Chinese Communist Party and its representatives right here in the United States.<\/p>\n
Many of you are familiar with Confucius Institutes. Confucius Institutes purport to have the sole purpose of teaching Mandarin language skills and Chinese culture. A bipartisan Senate committee found last year in 2019 that the Chinese Communist Party controls nearly every aspect of the Confucius Institutes\u2019 activities here in the United States.<\/p>\n
Over the past few months, the University of Missouri, the University of Kansas, the University of Maryland have independently decided to close down their Confucius Institutes after conducting their own reviews, and schools in 22 other states are doing or have already done the same.<\/p>\n
Sadly, China\u2019s propaganda campaign starts even earlier than college. China has targeted K through 12 schools through its \u201cConfucius Classrooms,\u201d the CCP\u2019s program to influence kids at elementary, middle, and high schools around the world.<\/p>\n
Do you know that we have no ability to establish similar programs in China? I\u2019m sure that doesn\u2019t surprise you. President Trump has talked about reciprocity in trade. We should have reciprocity in all things. Today they have free rein in our system, and we\u2019re completely shut out from theirs.<\/p>\n
As of 2017, there were 519 of these classrooms in the United States. Beijing knows that today\u2019s kids are tomorrow\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n
The China competition is happening. It\u2019s happening in your states, and it\u2019s a competition that goes to the very basic freedoms that every one of us values.<\/p>\n
And when it comes to doing business, I\u2019m asking you to adopt a cautious mindset. In the words of President Reagan, when you\u2019re approached for an introduction or a connection to a deal, trust but verify.<\/p>\n
I know you all have power over pension funds or the people that run them. As of its latest public filing, the Florida Retirement System is invested in a company that in turn is invested in surveillance gear that the Chinese Communist Party uses to track more than 1 million Muslim minorities. California\u2019s pension fund, the largest public pension fund in the country, is invested in companies that supply the People\u2019s Liberation Army that puts our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines at risk.<\/p>\n
And it is the case for many Chinese companies, too \u2013 no Sarbanes-Oxley. Their books are not wide open, so it\u2019s difficult to know if the transaction that\u2019s being engaged in is transparent and fair and follows the rule of law.<\/p>\n
Now, all of these things may well be legal. But the question is: Do they demonstrate good judgment and preserve America\u2019s national security?<\/p>\n
I want to urge vigilance on the local level, too. In the District of Columbia, there have been concerns raised that the new Metro cards manufactured by China could be vulnerable to cyber threats.<\/p>\n
So again, it\u2019s worth trusting but verifying. There are federal officials prepared to help you work your way through these challenges when they arise. Don\u2019t make separate individual deals and agreements with China that undermine our national policy. I know none of you would do so intentionally. Let us help you make sure we\u2019re getting it right.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re here to help. The Trump administration wants to help. There are so many things we have already done.<\/p>\n
Last year, we issued a letter to state governments. It reaffirmed that Taiwan remains a key business partner and a friend in every other way.<\/p>\n
We have strengthened the review process for Chinese companies that are investing in your states.<\/p>\n
We have revoked visas for so-called \u201cresearch scholars\u201d who abused their privileges by teaching in Confucius Classrooms, and made sure that they departed the United States.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve banned scientists from the Department of Energy, which overseas America\u2019s 17 largest national \u2013 excuse me, nuke labs, including our nuclear research facility in New Mexico. We did so because they were participating in Chinese talent recruitment programs.<\/p>\n
We have directed two Chinese propaganda outlets, the Chinese Global Television Network and Xinhua News Agency, to register as foreign agents.<\/p>\n
And we at the State Department have started to require Chinese diplomats to apply \u2013 comply with the same rules we comply with when we\u2019re in China. Chinese diplomats now must notify the State Department in advance of official meetings with state and local officials.<\/p>\n
They must declare their official visits to U.S. educational and research institutions as well.<\/p>\n
This is just fairness, reciprocity, basic common sense. This is not an onerous restriction to put on China.<\/p>\n
Look, I know it\u2019s 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon. There are lots of good things we could do. I hope you will all take on board what I\u2019ve said today.<\/p>\n
You all have important missions leading your states. These are complex, difficult jobs. You have the task to create jobs and opportunity in your state for your people, attract human capital, investment that undergirds our prosperity.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tough job, and you get curveballs every day from all across the place.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t lose sight of the competition from China that\u2019s already present in your state. Let\u2019s all rise to the occasion and protect our security, our economy; indeed, all that we hold dear, all of those freedoms.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what leaders must do.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what we do as Americans.<\/p>\n
I hope God will bless each and every one of you, each of your states, and the United States of America.<\/p>\n
Thank you for letting me be with you here this afternoon. (Applause.)\"<\/p>", "quote": null, "citation": "