or lesson with the free c-span radio app. this election season, the candidates beyond the talking points are only revealed over time, but if you cannot be everywhere, there is c-span. our campaign 2020 coverage it differs from all of her coverage. yourve brought you are -- unfiltered view of government every day since 1979, into this year we are bringing you and your future.ew of this election season, be direct and unfiltered. see the biggest picture for yourself, and make up your own mind. with c-span campaign 2020 rot do you by your local -- brought to you by your local television provider. >> secretary of state mike pompeo gave the keynote address

at the national governors association winter meeting in washington dc. he spoke for just over 15 minutes. [applause] thank you governor hogan, governor cuomo, nice to seo. i was watching basketball on my phone on the way in. it is the final in overtime. exactly. i was reminded that president trump is the 45th president of the united states, so there is a lot more turnover in my gig than his. it is good to be with you today. i want to change -- thank governor hogan, governor cuomo, and all of you for being here

today. it is hard to follow this state of the union yesterday. i am not passing out copies of my speech, so you cannot tear them up at the end. i have got into know some of you as i traveled throughout the states. i have probably traveled more throughout the country than other secretaries of state. i think it is important to that the american people know what our diplomats are doing around the world and why we are doing it. i you see me in your state, am not lost. your state has not this he did the union. ed from theseced union. i can get away with california jokes because i grew up in california. it is a wonderful place. ant year i received

invitation to an event that promised to be in it -- an occasion for exclusive dealmaking. it said the opportunities for mutually beneficial economic development between china and our individual states is tremendous. dealmaking sounds like it may have come from president trump, but the invitation was from a former governor. i was being invited to the u.s.-china collaboration summit. it was an event cohosted by the national governors association and something called the chinese people's association for friendship. sounds pretty harmless. what the invitation did not say is that the group i just mentioned is the public face of the chinese communist party's foreign influence agency, united front work department. i was lucky, i was familiar with that organize asian or time as

organization from my time as director of the cia. how many of you made the link between that group and to the chinese communist party officials? att if you made a friend that event? what if your friend asked you for introductions to other politically powerful people? what if your new friend offered to donate money? these are not hypotheticals. these scenarios are all too true and impact american foreign policy significantly. last year a chinese government backed a think tank in beijing produced a report that access to all 50 of america's governors on their attitudes towards china. they labeled each of you friendly, hardline, or ambiguous. i will let you decide where you

think you belong. someone in china already has. many of you indeed in that report are referenced by name. -- the lessonsson is that competition with china is not just a federal issue. it is why i wanted to be here today. it is happening in your states with consequences for our foreign policy, for the residents in your state and for each of you. in fact whether you are view debt by this ccp -- viewed by the ccp as friendly or headline, know that it is working you into the team around you. competition with china is happening in your state and it affects our capacity to perform america's vital national security functions. i want to set the context today for this topic. at the end of the cold war, america started to engage with china heavily. we thought that the more we

interacted, the more that it would become like a liberal democracy like us. it did not happen. you all know this. jinping, the xi country is moving in the opposite direction. more unfairion, competition, more predatory economic practices, and eight a more aggressive military posture as well. this does not mean we cannot do business with china. when i ran a century, -- sentry we operated in shanghai. we are -- it was indeed a deal that was good for both the united states and for china. these economic ties are powerful. they are good. they're good for your state, they are good for america.

look at the nearly 18 tons of medical supplies we just sent to china this week to fight the coronavirus. last week we announced more than 100 million dollars of assistance to china and the countries affected by the virus. i want to take a moment to note, i want to send my condolences to americany of the citizen who fell sick in wuhan over the last few days. we cannot ignore china's actions. risk the important components of our relationship that that effect both countries. the chinese government has been methodical in the way it has analyzed our open system, one we are deeply proud of. it has assessed our vulnerabilities and has decided to exploit our freedoms to gain federalol of us at the and local level. i announced i would give a series of speeches on china and

this is the context in which state and local officials should lead. china matters. it has been part of my mission in the state department to mobilize all parts of the united states government. i was out in silicon valley to talk to america's leading tech companies about the severity set of issues and i need your help too. does in topeka and sacramento reverberates in washington and beijing. competition with china is happening in your state. if most ofsurprised you in the audience have not been lobbied by the chinese communist party directly. the chinese communist party friendship organization are in richmond, minneapolis, portland, jupiter, florida, and many other cities around the country.

activities are's not quite that public. i want to talk about some of that today. let me read you and excerpt from a letter from a chinese diplomat. he sent a letter last month to the speaker of one of your state legislators. know, taiwan is part of china. avoid engaging in any official contact with taiwan, including ascending congratulatory messages to the elected, announcing proclamations for the toction, sending officials the inauguration ceremony, and inviting officials in taiwan to the united states." you have a diplomat from china assigned here to the united states, a representative of the chinese communist party in new york city urging an american elected official should not exercise his freedom of speech.

let that sink in for just a minute. this is not a one-off event. it is happening all across the country. illinois,nsults in texas, two in california, bound by the vienna convention are very politically active at the state level as is the embassy here in d.c.. maybe some of you have heard about the time when the chinese diegoate paid the uc san students to protest the dalai lama or last august when phil bryant of mississippi received a letter from a diplomat in houston threatening to cancel a chinese investment if the governor chose to travel to taiwan. phil went anyway. last year a high school -- a high school in chicago disinvited a taiwanese representative to serve on a climate panel after chinese pressure. it is one thing to pressure --

it is something else to go after a high school principal. it shows systematize asian. it shows -- it's -- there cultivating relationships with county school board members and local politicians often through what is known as a sister cities programs. chinese competition is something you all know. you have many duties and you are busy people. this competition is well underway. all these may seem like local matters to some, the cumulative effect is of and or miss national significance -- you nationalnormous significance. governors, you do not run these institutions on a day-to-day basis, but you often have an impact on the people who do.

think therector and i attorney general to talked yesterday about something called the 1000 talents plan. it is a plan to recruit scientists to transport the know-how we have here to china in exchange for in norma's ous paydays.norm texas and dem investigation discovered more than 100 academics participating in a&mese talent dax -- texas investigations discovered more than 100 academics participating recruitmentalent programs. students studying here in america -- they pressure students to monitor chinese

students. one pro-democracy chinese student in the northeast last year received death threats for exercising his right to free speech. the fbi became involved. make no mistake about it -- we want talented, young chinese students to come study in the united states of america. we ought to to encourage them to be here. they should not have to fear the long arm of beijing, which often reaches out. that is one of many campus groups directly influenced by the chinese communist party and it has representatives here in the united -- and its representatives here in the united states. many of you are familiar with confucius institutes. they purport to have the sole purpose of teaching mandarin and chinese culture. a bipartisan senate committee found in 2019 that the chinese

communist party controls nearly every aspect of the confucius institute's here in the united states. the university of missouri, , have, maryland independently decided to close down there confucius institutes after performing their own reviews. schools and 22 other states are doing or have already done the same. china's propaganda campaign starts even earlier than college. china has targeted classrooms through the confucius classroom. do you know that we have no ability to establish similar programs in china? i'm sure that does not surprise you. president trump has talked about reciprocity in trade -- we should have reciprocity in all things. today they have free reign in our system and we are completely shut out from theirs.

of thesee 519 classrooms in the united states. beijing knows that today's kids are tomorrow's leaders. china competition is happening in your states and it is a competition that goes to the very basic freedoms that everyone one of us values. when it comes to doing business, i am asking you to adopt a cautious mindset. in the words of president reagan, when new are approached with a deal, trust but verify. i know you will have power over pension funds or the people who run them. the florida retirement system is invested in a company that is in turn invested in surveillance gear that the chinese communist party uses to track more than one million muslim minorities. --ifornia's pension fund it supplies the people's liberation army that puts our soldiers and marines at risk.

it is the case for many chinese , their books are not wide open. it is difficult to know if the transactions we engage in our fair and involves the rule of law. all of these things may well be doal, but the question is they demonstrate good judgment and preserve america's national security? i wanted to urge vigilance on the local level too. new metro cards manufactured by china could be vulnerable to cyber threats. it is worth trusting but verifying. there are federal officials available to help you work through these challenges when they arise. deals to undermine our policy. i know you would not do so intentionally. we are here to help.

the trump administration wants to help. there are so many things we have already done. last year we issued a letter to state governments. taiwan remains a partner in every way. we strengthened the review process for chinese companies investing in your states. we revoked pieces for so-called -- visas by so-called scholars and make sure they departed the united states. we banned scientists from the department of energy, which oversees america's largest nuclear research labs. we did so because they were participating in chinese talent recruitment programs. we directed it to chinese propaganda outlets, the chinese global television network to register as a foreign agents and we at the state department have to make our chinese

diplomats to comply with the -- they must notify us ahead of meetings with local officials. they must declare their official business to research institutions as well. it is just a fairness, reciprocity. basic common sense. onerousnot an restriction to put on china. a saturday, 2:30 on there are a lot of good things we can do. i hope you will all take on board what i have said today. you all have important missions eating your states. these are complex jobs -- important missions in your states. these are complex jobs. it is a tough job. you get curveballs every day from all across the place. but do not lose sight of the competition from china that is already present in your state. let us all rise to the occasion

and protect our security, our economy, all that we hold dear. it is what leaders must do. it is what we do as americans. bless each and everyone of you, each of your states, and have the united states of america. thank you for letting me be with you this afternoon. [applause] ♪ >> c-span, your unfiltered view of government, created by cable in 1979 and brought to you today by your television provider. up next, an interview with new hampshire senator jeanne shaheen about politics in her state and its role as