{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Secretary Pompeo's Remarks to Traveling Press - China", "slug": "secretary-pompeos-remarks-to-traveling-press-china", "text": "
\"SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> <\/strong>[...] Meanwhile there\u2019s a lot going on, happening in China with the coronavirus as well. We had a flight of American diplomats that work for me and their families leave Wuhan within the last 24 hours. Lots of activity. We have an obligation to do our best to make sure that every American knows what the risks are of traveling not only to Wuhan but to China more broadly. We\u2019re going to make sure the State Department is monitoring that situation closely so we can provide good, accurate information for American citizens who have business travel or have family members there in China. [...] SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Sure.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> Huawei?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Huawei. Yes, sir.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> And Britain. You can\u2019t be happy.<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Look, we\u2019ve spoken to the United Kingdom at great length about this both at the political level and a lot at the national security level over the past months and months. Our view of Huawei has been that putting it in your system creates real risk. This is an extension \u2013 an extension of the Chinese Communist Party with a legal requirement to hand over information to the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll evaluate what the United Kingdom did. It\u2019s a little unclear precisely what they\u2019re going to permit and not permit, so we need to take a little bit of time to evaluate that. But our view is that we should have Western systems with Western rules, and American information only should pass through trusted networks, and we\u2019ll make sure we do that.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> But is it fair to say that this is a primary agenda item for your talks?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> There\u2019s a lot. There\u2019s a lot of topics. There\u2019s a lot of things we work on the United Kingdom on. There\u2019s big, broad national security issues. Our militaries operate together. There are enormous trade issues. There\u2019s big commercial issues. And there are obviously issues that relate to telecoms and their security, and we\u2019ll \u2013 they\u2019ll be part of the conversation.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> If they do let Huawei in, are you concerned about our national security?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> I\u2019m always concerned about our national security, of course. Look, we\u2019ll do the right thing with American information. We will make sure that when American information passes across the network, we are confident that the network is a trusted one. So we\u2019ll work with the United Kingdom. We were urging them to make a decision that was different than the one that they made, and now we\u2019ll have a conversation about how to proceed.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> And sharing intel \u2014<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> Can I ask about the coronavirus?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> I\u2019m sorry?<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> Can I ask about coronavirus? We\u2019ve \u2013 there\u2019s been some reports that the administration \u2014<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> He\u2019s going to drop us all in Wuhan. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> \u2014 that the administration is \u2014<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> That was Matt Lee, for those of you recording. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> \u2014 is possibly in discussions to halt flights to China to throw out all \u2014<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Sorry, who?<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> That the administration is in discussions to stop flights to China. Is there truth to that? Is that something that\u2019s being considered? Do you know at what point will we get there?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Yeah, I don\u2019t want to get ahead of any decisions or talk about internal deliberations, but the American people should know there are enormous efforts underway by the United States Government to make sure that we do everything we can to protect the American people and to do our part to reduce the risk all around the globe. So I am confident the World Health Organization, supported by the United States and other international groups, would have the capacity to help the Chinese Government push back against this real risk. We\u2019ll put all the resources that we can manage to do that.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> Is it fair to say it\u2019s something you\u2019re looking at, or \u2014<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Well, look, the State Department constantly evaluates risk to travelers. We\u2019ve raised the level to level four inside of Wuhan, and we will evaluate on a continuous basis, literally hour by hour, whether that\u2019s the appropriate level in Wuhan and whether \u2013 we\u2019ve got to get it right in other parts. That includes travel advisories that could encompass a wide range of things, including banning travel. All of those things will constantly be under consideration. We want to make sure we get it right. At the same time, we don\u2019t want to over-react either. We don\u2019t want to react in a way that actually has the potential to make things worse and not better.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> One more on Huawei.<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> Sure.<\/p>\n QUESTION:<\/strong> How real is the threat of reducing information sharing with the Brits, given that they\u2019ve made their choice?<\/p>\n SECRETARY POMPEO:<\/strong> We\u2019ll have to see what they actually do and how they \u2013 and importantly, how they implement what they laid out. We\u2019ve had a chance to review what they\u2019ve said about it so far now. We\u2019ve got to figure out what that means from an execution and implementation perspective as well. It\u2019s pretty complex. There\u2019s also a chance for the United Kingdom to relook at this as implementation moves forward.<\/p>\n And then it\u2019s important for everyone to know there is also real work being done by lots of private companies inside the United States and in Europe to make sure that there are true competitors to Huawei so that we can deliver the very outcomes that I know the United Kingdom was contemplating when they took the decision they did, so that we can deliver true commercial outcomes across real secure networks that aren\u2019t subject to the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s control.<\/p>",
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QUESTION:<\/strong> Can I ask about something a little bit different?<\/p>\n