at the hudson institute in washington about u.s.-china relations. ♪ ofe pres. pence: two members the board of trustees to dr. michael pills very, to our distinguished guests and all of you. be true to your mission in this place. think about the future in unconventional ways. it is an honor to be back at the hudson institute. than half a century this institute has dedicated itself to advancing global security, prosperity, freedom. and while things are changed

over the years, one thing has been constant. you have always advanced that vital truth -- that american leadership lights the way. leadership,ing of allow me to begin by bringing greetings from a great champion of american leadership at home and abroad. i bring greetings from the 45th president of the united states america, president donald trump. [applause] from early in this administration, president trump has made our relationship with china and president g a priority. he welcomed the chinese president to mar-a-lago. he then traveled to beijing were china's leader welcomed him warmly. past twocourse of the

years our president has forged a strong personal relationship with the president of the people's republic of china, and they have worked closely on issues of common interest -- most importantly, the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. but i come before you today because the american people deserve to know that as we speak, beijing is employing a whole of government approach using political, economic, and military tools as well as propaganda to advance its influence and benefit its interests in the united states. more has also applied proactive ways than ever before to exert and interfere in domestic politics of this country. under president trump's leadership, the united states is taking decisive action to respond to china with american action, applying principles and policies long advocated in these halls. in our national security

strategy, which the president released last december, he described a new era of great power competition. foreign nations have begun to reassert their influence regionally and globally, and they are contesting our geopolitical advantages by trying in essence to change the international order in their favor. in this strategy, president trump made clear that the united states of america has adopted a new approach to china. we seek a relationship grounded in fairness, reciprocity, and respect for sovereignty, and we have taken strong and swift action to achieve that goal. as the president said last year on his visit to china, in his have an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and improve the lives of our citizens." our vision of the future is

built on the best of our past. when america in china reached out in a spirit of openness and friendship. nation wentng searching in the wake of the revolutionary war for new markets for exports, the chinese people welcomed american traders. china suffered indignities and exportations during the so-called century of humiliation, america refused to join in and advocated an open door policy so that we could have freer trade with china and preserve their sovereignty. when american missionaries brought the good news to china's not only did they spread their faith, but those same missionaries founded some of china's first and finest universities. during world war ii we stood together as allies in the fight against imperialism, in that war's aftermath ensuring that

china becomes -- became a charter member of the united nations and a great shaper of the postwar world. but soon after it took power in 1949, the communist party began to pursue it authoritarian expansionism. only from article to think five years after our nations fought together, we thought each other. in the mountains and valleys of the korean peninsula. my own father saw combat on that frontier of freedom. but not even the brutal korean war could diminish our mutual restore the ties that for so long had bound our people together. china's estrangement from the united states and the 1972, and soon after we established diplomatic relations. opened our economies to one another, and american universities train a new generation of chinese business scholars and officials. after the fall of the soviet

union, we assumed that a free china was inevitable. americath optimism, agreed to give beijing open access to our economy and we brought china into the world trade organization. previous administrations made this choice in the hope that freedom in china would expand in all its forms, not just economically, but politically. with a newfound respect for classic liberal principles -- private liberty, personal liberty, religious freedom, but that hope is gone unfulfilled. the dream of freedom remains distant for the chinese people. while beijing still pays lip service to reform and opening, the famous policy now rings hollow.

years, china's7 gdp has grown ninefold. it has become the second largest economy in the world. much of this success was driven by american investment in china. the chinese communist party has also used an arsenal of policies inconsistent with free and fair tariffs used as currency manipulation, forced transfer, intellectual property theft, and industrial subsidies that are handed out like candy to foreign investment. these policies have built beijing's manufacturing base at the expense of its competitors -- especially, the united states of america. china's actions have contributed to a trade deficit with the united states that last year ran

to $375 billion, nearly half of our global trade deficit. as president trump said this china overve rebuilt the last 25 years. the made in china 2025 plan, the communist party has set its sights on controlling 95% of the world's most advanced industries, including bionics, and artificial intelligence. beijing has directed its bureaucrats and businesses to obtain american intellectual property, the foundation of our economic leadership by any means necessary. beijing now requires many american businesses to hand over their trade secrets. it is the cost of doing business in china. and sponsorsinates the acquisition of american

firms to gain ownership of their creations. securityall, chinese agencies have masterminded the wholesale theft of american technology. including cutting edge military blueprints. technology,t stolen the chinese communist party is turning plowshares into swords on a massive scale. china now spends as much on its military is the rest of asia combined. beijing is prioritizing capabilities to erode america's military advantages on land, at in space.e air, and china wants nothing less than to push the united states from the western pacific in an attempt to prevent us from coming to the aid of our allies. but they will fail. used its powero like never before.

chinese ships routinely patrol ,round the centcom go islands and while china's leaders stood in the rose garden at the white that in 2015 and said its country had no intentions of militarizing the south china beijing has deployed anti-ship and anti-air missiles atop an archipelago of military bases constructed on artificial islands. china's aggression was on display this week when a chinese naval vessel came within 45 is itof the uss decatur conducted freedom of navigation operations in the south china sea, forcing our ship to quickly maneuver to avoid collision. despite such reckless harassment, the united states navy will continue to fly, sale,

and operate wherever international law allows in our national interest to man's. you will not be intimidated and we will not stand down. [applause] >> america had hoped that economic liberalization would bring china into a greater partnership with us. and, with the world. china is chosen which hasggression, in turn emboldened its growing military. nor is we had hoped, is beijing moved toward greater freedom for its own people. beijing inched toward greater liberty and respect for human rights. china hasent years, taken a sharp u-turn toward control and oppression of its

own people. today, china has built an unparalleled surveillance state and is growing more expansive and obtrusive -- often with the help of u.s. technology. what they call the great firewall of china likewise grows restrictingtically the free flow of information to the chinese people. by 2020, china's rulers aim to implement an orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life, the so-called social credit score. in the words of that program's official blueprint, it will allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step. and when it comes to religious freedom, a new wave of

persecution is crashing down on chinese christians, buddhists, and muslims. month, beijing shut down one of china's largest underground churches. across the country, authorities are tearing down crosses, burning bibles, and in prison in believers. and beijing has reached a deal with the vatican that gives the avowedly atheist communist party a direct role in appointing catholic bishops for china's christians these are desperate times. beijing is also cracking down on buddhism. over the past decade, more than 150 tibetan buddhist monks have let themselves on fire -- have lit themselves on fire. the communist party has imprisoned as many as one million muslims in government

amps were they in do or around-the-clock brainwashing. survivors describe it as a deliberate attempt by beijing to strangle culture and stamp out the muslim faith. though, a attests, country that oppresses its own people rarely stops there. extend itso aims to reach across the wider world. pillsbury isl written, china has opposed the actions and goals of the u.s. government. indeed, it is building its own relationships with america's allies and enemies that contradict any peaceful intentions of beijing. uses so-called

dead diplomacy to expand influence. that country is offering billions of dollars in infrastructural loans to governments from asia to africa to europe and even latin america. loans arerms of those ok at best. and the benefits, invariably flow overwhelmingly to beijing. , which took lanka on massive debt to allow two yearsbuild a port ago that country could no longer afford its payments, so beijing pressured sri lanka to deliver chinese hands.to it may soon become a chinese base for the growing blue water navy. within our own hemisphere, beijing has extended a lifeline to the corrupt and incompetent

maduro regine in venezuela that has been oppressing its own people. pledged $5 billion in questionable loans to be repaid with oil. that country's single largest creditor, saddling the country with $50 billion in debt. even as their democracy vanishes. beijing is also impacting some nations politics by providing direct support to parties and candidates who promise to accommodate china's strategic objectives. chinesest year alone, communist party officials are convinced three latin american nations to sever ties with taipei and recognize beijing. these actions threaten the stability of the taiwan strait and the united states of america condemns these actions.

while our administration will continue to respect a one china policy is reflected in the three joint communique is in the taiwan relations act, america will always believe that taiwan's embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the chinese people. [applause] these are only a few of the ways that china has sought to advance its strategic interests across the world with growing intensity in sophistication. previous administrations all but ignored china's action, and in many cases, they abetted them. those days are over. under president trump's leadership, the united states of america has been defending our interests with renewed american strength. we have been making the strongest military in the

history of the world stronger still. earlier this year president trump signed into law the largest increase in our national defense since the days of ronald reagan. billion to extend the strength of the american military in every domain. where modernizing our nuclear arsenal. and developing cutting edge bombers and fighters in building a new generation of warships. we are investing as never before in our armed forces, and this includes establishing the united states space force to ensure continued dominance in space and taken action to authorize increased capability in the cyber world. at president trump's direction, we are also implementing tariffs on $250 billion in chinese goods.

with the highest tariffs targeting the advanced industries that beijing is trying to capture and control. as the president has also made even morewill levy tariffs with the possibility of substantially more than doubling that number, unless a fair and reciprocal trade deal is made. [applause] these actions, exercises and american strength, have had a major impact. stock exchange fell by 25% in the first five months of this year in large part because our administration has been standing strong against beijing's trade practices. as president trump is made clear, we do not want china's markets to suffer. thrive. we want them to

but the united states wants beijing to pursue policies that reciprocal,ir, and and we will continue to stand and demand that they do. [applause] sadly, china's rulers thus far have refused to take that path. the american people deserve to know. in response to the strong stand president trump is taken, beijing is pursuing a comprehensive campaign to undermine support for the president, our agenda, and our nation's most cherished ideas. to tell you today what we know about china's actions. here at home. some of which we've gleaned from intelligence assessments, some of which are publicly available. but all of which are fact. as we speakfore,

beijing is employing a whole of government approach to expand its influence and benefit its own interests. it is employing this power and more coercive ways to interfere in the domestic policies of this country, and to interfere in the politics of the united states. the chinese communist party is rewarding or coercing american businesses, movie studios, universities, think tanks, scholars, journalists, and local and state fiddler -- federal officials. ina is working to influence elections and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential elections. to put it bluntly, president trump's leadership is working and china wants a different american president.

there can be no doubt that china is meddling in america's democracy. as president trump said just last week, we have in his words found that china has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming midterm elections. our intelligence community says that china is targeting u.s., state, and local governments and officials to exploit any divisions between federal and local levels on policy. it is using wedge issues like trade tariffs to advance beijing's political influence. beijing itself circulated a document titled "propaganda and censorship notes." it laid out its strategy. it stated that china must, in accurately, strike

and carefully -- splitting apart different domestic groups in the united states of america. to that end beijing has mobilized covert actors, front groups and propaganda outlets to shift america's perception of china's policy. as a senior member of our committee told me just this week, what the russians are doing pales in comparison to what china is doing across this country. and the american people deserve to know it. officials have also influenced business leaders to encourage them to condemn our trade actions, leveraging desire to maintain operations with china. china recent example, threatened to deny a business license for a major u.s. corporation if they refused to

speak out against our administrations policies. and when it comes to influencing the midterms, you need only look at beijing's tariffs in response to ours. tariffs imposed by china today specifically targeted industries and states that would play an important role in the 2018 elections. more than 80% of u.s. counties targeted by china voted for president trump and i in 2016. now china wants to turn these voters against our administration. china is also directly appealing to american voters. last week the chinese government paid to have a multipage supplement inserted into the des moines register. the paper of record of the home state of our ambassador to china, and a pivotal state in

2018 and 2020. the supplement designed to look like a news article casts our trade policies as reckless and harmful. fortunately, americans are not buying it. for example, american farmers are standing with this president and seeing real results from the stance they have taken including the u.s. canada mexico agreement, worry substantially open markets to u.s. products, the u.s. mca is a great win for american farmers and american manufacturers. [applause] >> china's actions are not focused solely on influencing our policies and politics. beijing is also exploiting its economic leverage, and the luer

of their large marketplace to advance its influence over american businesses. beijing now requires american joint ventures that operate in china to establish what they call party organizations within their company. giving the communist party of voice, and perhaps a veto in hiring investment decisions. chinese authorities have also threatened u.s. companies that depict taiwan as a distinct geographic entity. airlinesompels delta to publicly apologize for not calling taiwan a province of china on its website, and it pressured marriott to fire the u.s. employee who merely liked a tweet about to that. ibet.out to

china demands a hollywood depicted in a strictly positive light. it punishes producers that do not. quick toensors are outlaw movies that criticize china in even minor ways. z," theyvie "world war had to cut the script's mention of a virus because it originated in china. the movie "red dawn" was digitally edited to make the enemies korean, not chinese. but beyond business and entertainment, chinese communist party is also spending billions of dollars on propaganda outlets in the united states. and frankly, around the world. international out broadcasts beijing-friendly programming and 36 u.s. outlets, many in a major american cities. the global china network reaches 75 millions americans and it

gets its marching orders directly from its communist party masters. as china's top leader put it network visit to the headquarters, a media run by the government are propaganda fronts and must have the party as their surname. it is for those reasons and that reality that last month, the department of justice ordered that network to register as a foreign agent. the communist party is also detained family members of american journalists who pry too deep. it has blocked websites of u.s. media organizations and made it harder for our journalists to get visas. this happened after the "new york times" investigated the

wealth of some of china's leaders. but the media is not the only place where chinese communist parties seek to foster a culture of censorship. the same is true across academia. chinesefurther than students and scholars association, of which there are more than 150 branches across america's campuses. they alert chinese consulates and embassies when chinese students and american schools stray from the communist party line. the university of maryland a chinese student recently spoke at her graduation of what she "the fresh i quote, air of free speech in america." the communist party's official

newspaper swiftly chastised her. she became the victim of a firestorm of criticism on china's tightly controlled social media, and her family back home was harassed. as for the university itself, it's exchange program with china, one of the nation's most expensive, turned from a flood to a trickle. china exerts academic pressure in other ways as well. generousrovides funding to universities, think tanks, and sponsors, with the understanding they will avoid ideas that communist party finds dangerous or offensive. particular note their visas will be delayed or denied if their research contradict beijing's talking points. even scholars and groups who avoid chinese funding are targeted by that country.

as the hudson institute found out firsthand. after you offered to host the speaker that beijing did not like, your website suffered a major cyber attack originating from shanghai. the hudson institute knows the chinesemost communist party is trying to undermine freedom of speech in america today. these and other actions constitute an intensifying effort to shift american public opinion and policy away from the america first leadership of president donald trump. our message to china's rulers is this. this president will not back down. [applause] >> the american people will not

be swayed, and we will continue to stand strong for our security , even as we hope for improved relations with asian -- with beijing. our administration will continue to act decisively to protect america's interests, american jobs, and american security. will rebuild our military continue to assert american interest across the indo pacific. as we respond to china's trade continue toe will demand an economic relationship with china that is free, fair, and reciprocal. we will demand that beijing breakdown it's trade barriers, fulfill its obligations, and fully open its economy just as we've opened hours. -- ours. continue to take action

until the theft of american intellectual property ends once and for all, and we will continue to stand strong until beijing stops the predatory practices of forced technology transfer. we will protect the private property interests of american enterprise. [applause] >> to advance our vision, we are building new and stronger bonds with nations that share our values. from india to samoa, our relationships will grow from respect. we are forging new trade deals on a bilateral basis, just as last week president trump signed an improved trade deal with south korea. we will soon begin historic negotiations for a bilateral

free trade agreement with japan. [applause] >> i am also pleased to report that we are streamlining international development and finance programs. we will be giving foreign nations a just and transparent alternative to china's deathtrap diplomacy. in fact, this week president trump will sign the build act into law. next month it will be my privilege to represent the united states in singapore and papua new guinea. there, we will unveil new measures and programs to support a free and open indo pacific. i will deliver the message that america's commitment to the indo pacific has never been stronger. [applause] closer to home to protect our

interests, we recently strengthened a committee on foreign investment, tightening our scrutiny of chinese investment in america. to protect our national security from predatory actions. when it comes to beijing's malign influence and interference in american we will and policy, continue to expose it. no matter the form it takes. we will work with leaders at every level of society to defend our national interest and our most cherished ideals. the american people will play the decisive role, and in fact, they already are. , a newather here consensus on china is rising across the united states. more business leaders are thinking beyond the next quarter and thinking twice before diving

in if it means turning over intellectual property or abetting beijing's oppression. but more of us must follow suit. for example, google should immediately end development of p that willly ap strengthen censorship and compromise chinese customers. [applause] >> it is also great to see more journalists reporting the truth tohout fear, digging deep find where china is interfering , and weociety, and why hope, american global organizations will continue to join this effort it on an increasing basis. more scholars are also speaking

out for defending academic freedom. more universities and think tanks are mustering the courage to turn away beijing money, recognizing that every dollar comes with a corresponding demand. and we are confident that their ranks will grow. nation, thehe american people are growing in vigilance with a newfound appreciation for our administration's actions and the to reset's leadership america's economic and strategic relationship with china. strong behind a president that is putting america first. under president trump's leadership i can assure you that america will stay the course. china should know that the american people and their elected officials in both parties are resolved, as our

national security strategy states. we should remember that competition does not always mean hostility, nor does it have to. clearesident has made that we want a constructive relationship with beijing. where prosperity grows together. while beijing has been moving further away from this vision, china's rulers can change course and return to the spirit of thatm and opening characterized the beginning of this relationship decades ago. the american people want nothing and the chinese people

deserve nothing less. the great chinese storyteller often lamented that his country has either looked down at foreigners as brutes or up to them as saints, but never as equals. america is reaching out our hand to china, and we hope that soon beijing will reach words.th deeds, not and, with renewed respect for america. but be assured, we will not relent until our relationship with china is grounded in fairness, reciprocity, and respect for our sovereignty. [applause]

>> there is an ancient chinese proverb that reads, "men see only the present. but heaven sees the future." let us pursuerd, the future of peace and prosperity with resolve and faith. faith in president trump's and theip and vision, relationship he has forged with china's president. faith in the enduring friendship between the american people and the chinese people. and faith that heaven sees the future. and by god's grace, america and china will meet that future together. thank you. god bless you, and god bless the

united states of america. ♪

>> the u.s. senate this morning voted 51-49 to limit debate on brett kavanaugh. we are expecting a confirmation vote tomorrow. you can follow senate debate on the nomination and the expected vote tomorrow on our companion network, c-span2. before the vote this morning, a group of protesters gathered at mitch mcconnell's office in opposition to judge brett kavanaugh's confirmation to the supreme court. here is a look. we have a message. [indiscernible]