The Trump Administration & US - Indo-Pacific Relations

This resource tracked statements, developments, visits, and other interactions in US-Indo-Pacific relations under the President Trump administration. Special focus was given to the comments and activities of President Donald J. Trump; Vice President Mike Pence; United States Trade Representative Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Jr.; former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; former Secretary of Defense James Mattis; and former Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark Esper.

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Secretary Pompeo With Jan Jekielek of The Epoch Times’ American Thought Leaders Program - China

"QUESTION: Secretary Mike Pompeo, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.

SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s great to be with you. Thanks for the invitation to be here and have this great conversation today.

QUESTION: Well, we’re going to focus on your “distrust and verify” approach to China and on religious freedom as well, since we don’t have a ton of time. I’d love to talk to you about all sorts of things. So in – when you were at – speaking at the…

Secretary Pompeo With Ben Shapiro of The Ben Shapiro Show - China

"QUESTION: So meanwhile, obviously the Government of China continues to be incredibly aggressive. A data leak apparently shows some 2 million members of the Chinese Communist Party who are embedded at companies all around the globe and governments all around the globe. What do you make of that report about a data leak, and just how dangerous is the Chinese Government in their attempt to infiltrate other countries, both in the private and the public sphere?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve spoken about this very issue a…

Secretary Pompeo With Rob Schmitt of Wake Up America on Newsmax - China

"QUESTION: Secretary Pompeo, we haven’t seen “America First” at this level really since the Reagan administration. Regarding China, you and President Trump really hit the reset button there. How serious a threat do you think China remains right now?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Unfortunately, it’s a tremendous threat. Indeed, I would evaluate the Chinese Communist Party as the greatest threat to security of the American people and indeed the free world of any of them that are out there. There’s a leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping, who…

Secretary Pompeo With Alex Marlow of Breitbart News Radio on SiriusXM Patriot - China

"QUESTION: One of the topics of conversation today on the broadcast has been this story that came out of The Australian of 1.95 million Chinese Communist members who have infiltrated companies really around the world and also government agencies. Did you get a look at this one and do you have any reaction to it and what it means?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, we’ve seen this everywhere, and President Trump’s been the first president of the United States, and frankly, one of the first global leaders…

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo with Tony Perkins of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - China

"QUESTION: I want to start first with your speech yesterday, which has created a little bit of a stir, because you really took this to the university campuses of America, saying that in some cases they’re being willfully duped by the Chinese Communist Party.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Tony, I’ve made a point as my time as Secretary of State to talk to the American people about why what it is we do in the national security world, whether that’s Department of Defense, the State Department or…

Secretary Pompeo's Remarks at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) on the Chinese Communist Party

"[SECRETARY POMPEO: ] I thought I’d start with a quick story, by way of explanation. Professor Fei-Ling Wang is with us here today. Professor, where – I didn’t see you sitting? Welcome. Nice to see you.

Several years ago, Professor Wang took a trip to China where he was scooped up by security agents inside of China. He was held in a secret location for two weeks. Professor Wang was interrogated and threatened. They wanted information about his research about China and his time teaching…

Joint Statement on Human Capital Development at the 8th ASEAN-U.S. Summit

"We, the Heads of State/Government of Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States of America, met via videoconference, on 14 November 2020, under Viet Nam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship, on the occasion of the 8th ASEAN-U.S. Summit;

We underscored our shared commitment to strengthening the ASEAN-U.S. Strategic Partnership. We reiterated the importance of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which is based on the principles of openness, transparency, inclusivity and a rules-based framework, among others. We also noted…

Designation of the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU) as a Foreign Mission of the PRC

"The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organ tasked with co-opting and neutralizing threats to the party’s rule and spreading its influence and propaganda overseas. The CCP regards this party apparatus as a “magic weapon” to advance Beijing’s policies.

Today, the Department of State designated a UFWD-controlled organization – the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU) – as a foreign mission of the PRC under the U.S. Foreign Missions Act. The goal of this action is to shine a…

Joint Statement on the Third U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue

"India’s Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper to New Delhi for the third annual U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. The Ministers welcomed the elevation of the U.S.-India relationship to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership during the visit of President Donald J. Trump to India in February 2020. They reiterated their commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-India partnership, anchored in mutual trust and friendship…

Advancing Reciprocity in U.S.- China Diplomatic Relations

"For years, the PRC has imposed significant barriers on American diplomats working in the PRC that are far beyond diplomatic norms. PRC authorities implement a system of opaque approval processes designed to prevent American diplomats from conducting regular business and connecting with the Chinese people. U.S. diplomats’ attempts to host cultural events, secure official meetings, and visit university campuses are regularly obstructed.

In the United States, by contrast, PRC diplomats have enjoyed open access to American society, while ignoring sustained U.S. entreaties to improve the…

Secretary Pompeo With Lou Dobbs of Lou Dobbs Tonight - China

"QUESTION: Joining us tonight to talk about all of this and much more, the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Mr. Secretary, good to have you with us. Let’s begin with the rhetoric of the Chinese Government, and it is moving up quite a – to quite heated extremes now. Your interpretation of what’s going on in Beijing.

SECRETARY POMPEO: So, Lou, thanks for having me on. That was quite a list you read there with respect to the Chinese Communist Party’s aggression. I…

Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference - Various Issues in the Indo-Pacific

"THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please. So we had a couple of really great days in India. Prime Minister Modi is a terrific man. He’s a terrific leader. And we have a lot of things going in terms of product being purchased by India.

We just had a meeting. A lot of the press was there. I thought it was a great meeting with some of the biggest businessmen in the world. They come from India. They’re agreeing to invest billions and billions of…