In declaring in the Richard Nixon Presidential Library that “the old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday announced a new approach to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): “Be suspicious but verify.”
In austere and sobering comments, Pompeo warned Americans that “if we bend our knees now, our children’s children could be at the mercy of the CCP, whose actions are the main challenge for the free world.”
Pompeo’s speech came a day after the FBI revealed that the CCP implemented a “program” to secretly and illegally plant military investigators at various universities in the United States to steal sensitive materials. Earlier in the week, the State Department announced that the Chinese consulate in Houston would be closed, and Pompeo said the complex was “a hub for espionage and theft of intellectual property.” China has promised retaliation.
In that tense context, Pompeo promised actions that he distinguished from the “containment” of the Cold War, which aimed to stop the spread of communism and keep the Soviet Union isolated.
CHINA MILITARY SPY IS AT THE EMBASSY OF SAN FRANCISCO, THE FBI ALEGA
“It is true that, unlike the Soviet Union, China is deeply integrated into the global economy,” he said. “But Beijing depends more on us than we do on them.”
Hours after the FBI alleged a coordinated Chinese scheme to “send military scientists to the United States with false pretenses with false covers or false statements about their true employment,” Pompeo emphasized that the immigration system was prone to abuse.
“We open our arms to Chinese citizens, only to see the CCP exploit our free and open society,” Pompeo continued, perhaps in his sharpest remarks directed at the Chinese government. “Secretary General Xi Jinping is a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology.”
Throughout his speech, which also warned of the national security threats from China’s major technology companies, Pompeo strove to distinguish the CCP from the Chinese people.
“The communists always lie, but the biggest lie is that the Chinese Communist Party speaks for 1.4 billion people who are watched, oppressed and afraid to speak,” said Pompeo. “On the contrary. The CCP fears the honest opinions of the Chinese people more than any foreign enemy. And except for losing their own control of power, they have no reason to do so.”
Pompeo specifically honored Tiananmen Square survivor Wang Dan, as well as the man Pompeo identified as the “father of the Chinese democratic movement, Wei Jingsheng,” who “spent decades in Chinese labor camps for his defense.”
The only way to truly change communist China, Pompeo continued, “is to act on the basis of what its leaders do, not on what they say. President Reagan dealt with the Soviets on the basis of” trust but verify. ” it’s about the CCP, I say ‘Be suspicious and verify’. “
Previous Trump administration measures against Chinese officials, students, and investigators have included travel bans, registration requirements, and other steps aimed at reducing the country’s footprint in the United States. The administration has also announced its outright rejection of virtually all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea.
CHINA THREATENS RETALIATION AFTER WE CLOSE THE EMBASSY
These actions occurred when Trump tried to blame China for the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., where cases skyrocketed. Trump himself said there could be more closings if China doesn’t change its behavior. “It is always possible,” he told reporters at the White House.
Pompeo similarly hit that topic. “Just think of the best it would have been in the world if doctors in Wuhan could have raised the alarm about the outbreak of a new coronavirus,” he said.
The State Department announced that it ordered the consulate closed within 72 hours after alleging that Chinese agents have attempted to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the state-wide Texas A&M medical system and the MD Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas at Houston.
There were indications that consulate staff were preparing to leave: documents were burned on the consulate grounds Tuesday night, a common practice when a diplomatic post is closed on short notice.
Cai Wei, the Chinese Consul General, told KTRK-TV in Houston that the closing order was “quite wrong” and “very damaging” to relations between the United States and China.
When asked about the allegations of espionage and data theft, Cai said: “You have to give some evidence, say some of the facts … Knowing Americans, you have the rule of law, you are not guilty until prove otherwise. “
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that the closure was “to protect American intellectual property and the private information of Americans.”
Nicholas Kalman and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.
