Thank very much. Were delighted to have you here today. My name is john hamre. Im the president at csis. And when we have events with outside groups like this we always start with a little safety announcement. I just want to you know louiewherever he is, he is responsible for your safety. And if something if you hear a voice saying we have to evacuate im not worried about the chairman well take care of him. We no know how to do that. But for everybody else the doors behind me take us down to the first floor. Two lefthand turns, a right hand turn to National Geographic well met there and i pay for everyones ticket to get into the show. Its not something going to happen. Weve not had a problem but we want you to know how to be prepared. Delighted to have you here but even more pleased we can welcome chairman jim risch to be with us today. He is the first guy ive met who is the by profession a forrester. He went to undergraduate as a forrester but quick found the calling and entered into politics, became a lawyer and entered politics. I was talking with with his wife vikki 34 elections theyve been through together. I mean, that ill tell you thats for good or worse for better or poor. Thats what means to be married 51 years and to go through 34 elections. And to have triumphed all the way. Thats wonderful. Thank you for being here vicki. Great to have you here. Its a pleasure to have chairman risch here today. And let me just say some questions today are off the table. Were not talking about impeachment or any of that stuff. We are here to talk about Foreign Policy today and especially to talk about americas role in leading in a country where we have a major challenge like mc, the rise of china and important alliances. Thats going to be the focus for the chairmans presentation. Id ask you all to honor that as we go through the process of question and answer dialogue with him. He is under a short time. So i without taking more time i would ask you with your warm a applause to please welcome the chairman of the Senate Foreign relations committee. Chairman risch. You. applause applause applause thank you for that thank you for that kind introduction. I really appreciate that. Say hello again to idahos former first lady. Vicki stand up and say hello. applause doc, you forgot to tell me who is in charge of my safety. What about me . You are ill take that. Thanks for having me here today. Gosh. This is a speech ive wanted to make some time. And i have some prepared remarks. Before i get to those and i got them prepared so that they wont be misinterpreted as time goes on. But before you do that i want to talk just briefly about about the relationship between the United States and europe. And then more importantly what im specifically talking about here today, and that is ours. United states and europes relationship as far as china is concerned with china. Being in the position im in, i get lots and lots of visitors every day from europe. And its always an interesting experience. I view them as my cousins. My grandfather immigrated on the german side. On the irish side it was my great, great grandfather that imbase rated and i think emof them as cousins. And i ask the german friends if they knew my grandfather which they didnt because it was 1898 when he came here. But in any event i guess im a little always im getting used to it. But im always concerned when they talk about our relationship. And i dont view us as having any kind of difficult relationship with europe at all. Certainly we have differences. But i mean as far as the basic relationship our relationship is good. Indeed, ill give you a little anecdote in that regard. I had some friends not friends, people from germany come that were Public Officials and wanted to talk about a number of things. And the usual kind of issues that we talk about when we get together. And i asked them where they were from. And they were from dorttman, as you know up in the north, happens to be where my grandfather immigrated from. We talk about soccer they have a good time. We got to talking issues. And as we talked, we had a robust debate on the nord stream ii not favored greatly by the vast majority of people in congress for a lot of reasons. But setting that aside. When we were done they we were done talking about the issues they said to me, they said well are we okay . I said what do you mean okay is our relationship okay. Let me tell you something, vicki and i have a lot of friends, married a lot of years. And theyve been through a lot of troubles. And let me tell you something, the relationship between the United States and germany and European Countries for that matter is a whole lot better than a lot of these peoples relationship is. So, yes, were okay. And so i do that frequently. And like i said, im always a little bit surprised at the fact that they think there are the overall relationship problems. Sure we have we have differences. And strong differences really. But that happens. In all kind of relationships where you have differences. That doesnt mean the relationship by any stretch should go away. A gad share of it is it always come back to the president. The president elect said this and the president said that. And i try to explain to them of course that the president is the president. But there are three branchs of government which are coequal. And then eye start to glaze over when you talk about branches of government and that the fact that the branchs are coequal. We can all agree in in room and for that matter with my european friends that we have a president thats different than the president s we have had in recent times. Vicki and i have had the opportunity of knowing every president starting with ronald rig haguen and when we knew hw best. We had he and barbara in the home for dinner. We have gotten to know the president s. This president is very different than any that weve had in the past. He is substantially less stiff in one regard. And in another, he tells you whats on his mind. Which president s have not always been wouldnt to do. This president and admittedly i have a much different relationship with this president than i had with others indeed i didnt start out a trump person. I was a rubio guy in the primary. Which the president reminds me of at every opportunity he gets that i was a rubio guy back in the day. In the primary. But in any event, we get long well. But this is a person that you dont know because all you see is him on tv shouting back and forth with the media, usually with the helicopter going in the background so he has to be shouting. But he is a person that is fun to be around, that enjoys engagement, that you can engage with, that you can argue with. And people say well if he is a friend you must agree on a lot of stuff. Not at all. We have disagreements all the time. And we exchange on them. He has never treated me with anything but total respect even though we disagreed and the reverse is true too. He is the president of the United States and i treat him with the respect the president of the United States deserves. Having said that, he speaks whats on his mind. And sometimes that that rubs people the wrong way. And a lot of times just by what what he says he will upset people. And a good example is nato when he started talking about nato. I doubt many people in the room if any who wouldnt agree with me that the nato is the strongest, most successful military alliance in the history of just the world. Nato is not going away. We in the United States congress are deeply, deeply committed to nato. The American People are deeply, deeply committed to nato. But the president of the United States was bothered by the fact that not all nato members were keeping the commitments they made in fiscal ways. As a result of that he raised that. And that really caused a lot of anxiety on the part of the europeans. Indeed thats one of the first things they would ask me about. But you know, the interesting thing is ive been going there a dozen years, giving the same message to them. We talk and have good points to talk about. But id say, look, you guys and lasered have to step up. You know, you committed to do this and particularly from a financial basis and do it and pat us on that the head appear dont worry well get it done. President trump raised this question in a little different way than those of hughes deal in diplomatic language raise it. And all of a sudden they were upset. But most importantly guess what theyre writing checks now. And you you have to give him credit for that. But in any event they get concerned when the president says this, that or the other thing. I tell them well just take a deep breath. Were americans okay. We were born in revolution. We were born in angst. We have been through a revolution. Weve been through a civil war, two warld wars, a terrible desperation and still standing. We have had president s just as some of your countries, European Countries have had leaders that are different. But we americans well get through this. The strength of america does not lie with the president or any other Single Person here. It lies with us, the American People. And thats way were were going to be here a long, long time and well get over whatever these things are and be be able to get through them. So manufacture enough of that move to my prepared remarks where i talk about the relationship between us and europe and the combined europe and the United States with china. Again, let me say that for our european friends, a, there is nothing wrong with our relationship. B, just as president macron said recently we need to do this together. And he was particularly talking to his european brethren. We need to get together in europe and with the United States when it comes to our relationship with china. I couldnt agree more with him in that regard. As far as china is concerned, i can tell that you as i travel around the United States i look here and see a lot of people who are focused on these kinds of issues, who educate themselves on these kind of issues. Many if not most people in the United States have no idea of the challenge that we are facing in many, many respects from china. Vicki and i had the opportunity to travel in china in 1983. When i walked around in china i thought to myself, you know, this is not going anywhere. They really had nothing there. Didnt look like they were moving in any kind of a direction. It was communism at its finest. And i thought to myself, you know, we dont have to worry about this. Well what they have done of course is taken from us the best they can possibly take from us and have now set themselves on a path that is a very different path and is a challenge to us and virtually to all of the other 200 countries on the face of the planet. And so we need to deal with that. And we need to deal with it well. Going to my prepared remarks. Fostering stronger u. S. And european ties has been a Significant Interest of mine during the 11 years ive been in the senate. I have worked on numerous europeanrelated issues, including arms control, trade, Eastern European democratization and intelligence matters. Im on the intelligence committee. Im a strong supporter of nato, the greatest Political Military Alliance in the history of the world. Im proud of the close cooperation and ties between the United States and europe over the last seven decades. Today, the United States and europe face a troubled world. For the first time in generations, the world has seen the reemergence of substantial competitors, russia where it can be. Iran in the middle east. And of course china everywhere in the world. And if you dont believe me, travel anywhere in the world. And you see will see chinas footprints everywhere. Of these china is the true global rival and represents the most consequential challenge to common american and european interests. And we do have common interests. The United States and europe share a vital interest in addressing the challenges posed by china. We both recognize china is no longer a developing country. It is a global power. China is our economic competitor. And we both rightly demand greater rest prosty and chinas adherence to the rule of blah and International Norms. The European Union is correct to label china as a systemic rival. And leaders around the world have made clear that china must abide by its commitments and support an International System that is free, fair and open. If china embraces these principles and truly wants to be a Global Leader in the 21st century china will find a United States ready and willing to cooperate. But until china pursues that path, the United States and europe must compete with china. And we must do so with vigor. The United States and the European Union have both improved our screening of foreign direct investment. And we have combined forces to expose the Chinese Governments horrifying repressing in shen jing. The challenges of china which are many and widespread will require a sustained commitment. This is and will be the principal struggle of the rest of our lifetimes. The United States and europe has always like most friends had differences. But that cannot distract us from us what is most important, above all, we must ensure gnat free International System we built together, we and europe built together it can withstand external pressures abacknowledgesing the many opportunities for the United States and european cooperation against china will help us to work through differences. China is a communist authoritiarian party state. And unfortunately the partiesvalues and interests dictate how china operates in the International System. Thus chinas Political Economic goals are one in the same. The Chinese Communist party directs chinas economy. Chinese leaders ask the assert the primecy of Stateowned Enterprises and Party Officials are increasingly involved in the commercial decisions of thinly disguised private companies. Governments, businesses and Civil Societies have been slow to recognize how connected Chinese Companies are to the Chinese Communist party and government. China hides the true role of its companies. Chinas intellectual property thoft and cyberespionage gave washington a wakeup call and revealed the resources the Chinese Governments uses to advance its economic goals. In my home state of Idaho Micron Technology had its chip intellectual property stolen. The Chinese Government officials made acquiring that Chip Technology a national priority. The Chinese Company patented the stolen company and sued micron for Patent Infringement in chinese courts. Such thefts are common practice in china. European countries like asml in the netherlands have suffered is similar experiences. Chinas overreaching goal is to take what it believes is its rightful place at the center of the international by 2050 and to ensure the International System functions according to china values, principles and object china is trying to displays the United States as the preeminent power in the indopacific. China also wants to exert deep influence in every other region of the world to Shape International perceptions and steer decisionmaking in its favor. China always demands deference. Meetings chinas demands often requires other nations to see their soverignty to accommodate chinas interests. The affect of chinas influence are evident. But one powerful approximate example is their extreme economic pressure on the nba. In retribution for a single tweet by a u. S. Team executive supporting protesters in hong kong. What could be wrong with that, you ask . Many in the west actually woke to the threat of chinese political influence in 2010 when china punished norway after liu, shobo received the noble peace prize as the political and global interests grow they need military power to protect the interests. We see that in europe with chinese commercial and military presence in the mediterranean. Although china may seem to selectively cooperate in todays International System, it is fundamentally opposed to u. S. And european norms. Values and institutions. Chinese leaders preach that socialism with chinese characteristics is superior to the idea advanced by western nations. Chinese leaders believe the alternative philosophy is what makes china a truly Global Leader. China uses International Organizations to shape favorable narratives and Gain International recognition of its views. China has successfully pressured Eastern European nations to vote against u. N. Efforts to hold china accountable for its own chinas own diplorable human rights violations. China advances languages on language on human rights and u. N. Governance to justify the horrific treatment of its own people. Going forward, china will not be satisfied to just shape narratives. China appears determined to set the standards by defining the meaning of human rights or how emerging technologies are used. Our fundamental competition with china is between two systems, with different visions of how the world should look. This competition touches on our political and cultural values, our Economic Prosperity and our defense and security. Led by the United States, and europe, much of the world has created an open system of rules norms, and institutions that upholds individual rights and freedoms, that advances marketbased Economic Prosperity and that safeguards shared security interests. Despite some differences, we have enjoyed enormous success in fostering and advancing that system. Chinas vision is vastly different. The rights of the individual are subordinate to the interest of the state. Economic coercion for political ends is a legitimate form of state craft and, might makes right on the high seas and in contract negotiations according to china. In is our shared challenge. In facing it we should be guided by three things, first, we must not put economic interests ahead of our political and security concerns. Thats why the United States strongly opposes european nations allowing huawei to compete forabling 5g networks. Fortunately denmark and Czech Republic chose a better path. Im encouraged the Security Community in germany especially is raising the alarm. But if enough allies allow huawei in. Intelligence sharing in gnat nato could be negatively compromised and impacted. We do not gain by putting economic najtment with china ahead of political principles and values. If we dont prioritize core values we cant expect our companies and citizens to stand up when confronted with Chinese Government coercion. Second, the United States and europe must regain the robust commitment to defend our interests. In 2014, nato was unequipped to teal with renewed russian aggression, clearly we cant repeat that mistake. I agree with the nature of secretary general that nato needs to prepare for china coming closer to europe. Addressing the china challenge will require strong consensus and collaboration within nato. Next month nato is expected to release a new report on china. This report will demonstrate how strong in consensus really is on china. Third, we must acknowledge this is an international competition. Past u. S. Europe cooperation on china has focused on better treatment of our companies in the chinese market. However, u. S. And European Companies are global players. And they face unfair chinese economic practices in markets around the world. Economic competition with with china is not just about the u. S. And european markets. And our policies must reflect that. U. S. And European Companies must be set up for success by advancing the rules and norms that allow them to compete fairly. Addressing the challenges together will require balancing our long term shared interest with our current irritants. There are some frustrations between the u. S. Everything from tariffs to iran, to defense spending, and those are not fully in sync right now. We have succeeded in overcoming our differences in the past. Committing to each other, to a system based in fair economic practices and political openness, and to our collective security always has and always should override other issues. As china challenges us today, that same commitment must be paramount. China is a longterm problem. We need to focus on the future. We must work to fend on chinas political influence and coercion. Our issue is not with the Chinese People. China is much more than the communist party. And not all engagement is a bad thing. But a healthy awareness of the control exerted by the communist party and the communist partys widespread access to vast amounts of information held by the Chinese People and just as importantly Chinese Companies must be recognized. Most americans are not aware of a communist partys topdown control. Private companies, universities and others are vulnerable. We must establish best practices and consider legislation to address this. These are very tough issues, facing our free societies. We will come up with best ideas if we put our heads together. We also need better coordination to shape the future of technology. We must ensure a level Playing Field in Industry Groups setting standards and forms more technologies. Chinese companies are playing a much more active role in the groups but not always according to our values. To protect freedom and human rights, the United States and europe must be actively engaged in how new technologies will be used. We already know china is exporting the tools and techniques of mass surveillance. And we cant allow those practices to become the norm. Despite current frictions, there is ample room to cooperate on trade issues. A major priority critical technologies. We should also work to secure and strengthen Critical Infrastructure particularly ports. Chinas presence is growing from rotterdam to piraeus. The u. S. Department of defense assesses chinas greater a access to foreign ports allow Chinese Military to preposition logistics, support to regularize and sustain diplomats in the far seas according to the defense department. These ports are used heavily by the u. S. Midelfort to support our commitment to the europe to european security. We must also focus on the cybersecurity of ports which increasing rely on mechanicenized process and digital infrastructure, understanding how chinas access to european ports could threaten transatlantic security, should be a top priority of nato. Finally, there is a vast potential for greater collaboration between the United States and europe in both africa and the indopacific. Both regions access to foreign ports allow Chinese Military to preposition logistics, support to regularize and sustain diplomats in the far seas according to the defense department. These ports are used heavily by the u. S. Midelfort to support our commitment to the european security. We must also focus on the cybersecurity of ports which increasing rely on mechanicenized process and digital infrastructure, understanding how chinas access to european ports could threaten transatlantic security, should be a top priority of nato. Finally, there is a vast potential for greater collaboration between the United States and europe in both africa and the indopacific. Both regions have growing economies and exploding populations as we know. China has already capitalized on africas opportunities and is working to seal partners with the content with the continents 54 nations. China is making longterm debt deals through the onebelt one Road Initiative process they control and build infrastructure. And acquire valuable resources and commodities and exports the culture through nocost media, mobile devices and educational initiatives. In the process, china often also exports corruption. The United States and europe should reinvigorate our relationship with african next nations, replaces we build over decades of active trade assistance and security partnerships. Similar opportunities exist in the indopacific, especiallily the nations recognized downside of chinese nanlment. China believes its a Global Leader. But for that to be true it must act like with un. China acted like one very well when it recently took steps to combat fentanyl, a real problem in the world. Next month china will have to expel more than 10,000 north korean workers from the borders to comply with the u. N. Security Council Resolution it photo voted for. China must demonstrate what role is wants to play. The United States and europe must ask ourselves how do we ensure the intentional the International System maintains its commitment to values, even in the face of chinas unfair trading, murky and corrupt investment and political interference to advance its own authoritiarian ends. This question affects the entire free world. And the world that wants to become free. Bipartisan consensus on capitol hill about the need for a new approach to china is strong. And the United States will work to identify the right policies to answer this question on a bipartisan basis. The United States and europe will have to have a stronger answer to this question if we stand together. The United States cannot respond to the chinese challenge alone. Nor do we want to. China has already amassed enough economic and political and economic might to coerce countries standing alen. The only way to defend the system we built, we built is by working together. The only way we can hope to challenge beijings calculus is by acting in concert. Transatlantic security and prosperity requires that we renew our commitment to each other and pledge to use all of our combined tools to succeed. I am confident that the United States and europe can overcome some of our current differences and find a shared vision to defend the system that we built. Thank you again for your kind invitation to come here and share my thoughts. And with that, i guess we will take some questions. So thank you very much. applause im going to have you sit right here. Well good afternoon my heather conely i direct the program here at csis im delighted to be joined by mike green president for our asia team. And senator thank you so much oh, my goodness. That didnt sound good. If we had to have a casualty it could have been worse. They say its not sir, why dont we just leave that. I think we will just leave that aside. Thank you. I really appreciated your personal reflections as well as your remarks. What i thought we would do, is mike and i as were having our conversation and then please pass them to sort of the sides of the room. Colleagues women pick them up. At the very end, were going to try to get as many of those questions as we can while the senator remember, no impeachment questions. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Thank you for that reminder. So so, senator, if i may, im going to jump right in here. It was on your personal reflection on the transatlantic, are we okay . I think i know our european colleagues spend a lot of time meeting with members of congress to get that reassurance a lot of times. A lot. And i think thats important time spent. But they also hear when the president speaks his mind and when they when the president says the European Union is worse than china, it is a foe. To the United States. That does not help put them in a trail of mind of working together to meet this growing challenge, and think thats sort of the, in some ways the were perception is the u. S. Feels like its intervening as much as china is sometimes. And i know youre working hard to prevent that, but it makes it challenging to meet that. I just want to offer that as a reflection. Well, let me respond to that briefly. Look, as i said, this president is unique and he does speak his mind. You know, ive been in politics all my adult life and the media used to get after me all the time, you politicians, you never tell us what youre thinking. Boy, they got a guy now that tells them what theyre thinking. All day long. All night long. They dont like that any better. So, look, he has a unique way of speaking, and weve here in america watched this as weve gone along and i tell my european friends, look, you got to take the whole thing together, dont take a sentence, dont take a word, dont take a thought, we all have thoughts that we dont express. He expresses all his thoughts. And so i think hes encouraging french president macron to also speak his thoughts as well, and in fact, today president macron at the Paris Peace Forum said that, perhaps, europe could serve as a power broker between the United States and china. Do you foresee that as a role for europe . You know, i think wed be much better off working together on this rather than i know macron, we all know macron has a vision hed like france to be the world leader on these various things, and bless him for that thought. I hes got to take that wherever he wants to take that, but i think wed all be best off working together because, look, chinas certainly going to do what its going to do and its going to take everybody working together. Absolutely. Mike, ill turn it to you. Let me ask about impeachment. Another screens going to fall and go crash. Well, according to the constitution, i bet you our audience is thrilled to be the only audience in washington not talking about, yeah, exactly. Senator, i thought your speech was fantastic. I think you captured accurately the trends in europe. I think that our friends in europe are awakening to some of the same problems weve felt with respect to intellectual property rights. But the problem, as you said, its too big for just the u. S. And i would say its kind of too big for the transatlantic relationship, alone, and if were going to really get on the problem, were really going to have to get back to the trilateralism that, frankly, won the cold war. In other words, u. S. Europe, asia allies, japan, australia, so forth. It seems to me the mechanisms we had available to harness that trilateral Cooperation Among democracies in europe, north america, asia, is a little bit broken broken, so, you know, a few years ago senator rubio and others would have supported tpp. We would have moved toward a transatlantic trade negotiation. Wto reform is absolutely appropriate, but those trade agreements across the pacific, across the atlantic, that would have given us real purchase, real leverage, to demand changes from china. We also have the g7. U. S. Will host the g7 somewhere in the United States in the coming year. Canada, japan, europe. I know where its not going to be. Okay. So, so my question is, how do we build on your speech, your ideas, really trilateralize this strategy again to get japan, australia, others in asia, europe, the u. S. What are the mechanisms we can use . We kind of lost some of them in a way. I think thats a good observation. First of all, lot of us supported tpp. And we thought that was the way to go, but ill let you in on a little secret on the president which isnt much of a secret, that is he really likes Bilateral Agreements as opposed to multilateral agreements. He and i have had some robust discussions on that and i have to say this, he has some very legitimate reasons why he would much rather have a bilateral than a multilateral agreement. And i think his argument is a good argument. I think he overweights it, but nonetheless, he is the president and according to the constitution, hes the one who negotiates then we come onboard. So, in any event, keep that in mind, hes much more attune to that. Having said that, lets lets talk about asia for a minute. Again, i meet with the Asian Countries just as i meet with the European Countries. And in many ways, they are just as anxious if not more anxious than the europeans to join with us, to join with the United States of america, to push back along the lines that i described in the speech that i just gave. Theyre anxious. They want to be partners to do this. I suppose it makes sense because theyre right there on the doorstep and i think they see these things even closer than we see them. So, look, i dont think the opportunity is lost. I think its there. I think the president s going to view those probably much more in a bilateral than a multilateral way, but, again, he has had some real hes had some successes that you cant disagree with. Look, we started out when he said he was going to redo nafta, a lot of us choked because naftas been very good to america in a lot of ways. He said we can do it better. So we said, okay, show us, you know . And by golly, he did. We we helped encourage, as we went down the road, but hes got us there. I hope the house does the right thing and votes votes for that before the first of the year. That the usmca is a great agreement. Its better than nafta. It will serve us well with the two largest trading partners we have in the world. Were encourageing that. Your point of bringing others onboard other than europe and the United States is well taken. I spoke about europe today because, number one, thats what were talking about. Theyre cousins. I view them, most americans, i think, view europe as cousins, so theyre the most obvious one. I think in tokyo, getting the transatlantic piece of the relationship right is critical for them. I agree. Its the right topic. Couldnt agree more. Senator, is there any part of europe that concerns you the most related to chinese sort of economic penetration . I want to read you a headline from yesterday. Greece and china hail Strategic Partnership as u. S. And eu look on. This is the quote from greek prime minister, greece recognizes china not only as a great power but also as a country that has won for itself not without difficulty an economic and political role and both signed 16 memorandums of cooperation yesterday, one in particular on Chinese Energy investments in greece. Are you worried about greece, western balkans, central europe, uk . We got a menu there. I read several stories along those lines. Let me tell you what went through my mind when i read them, that particular story. Didnt raise in my mind, gosh, are we more vulnerable in one country than another . What went through my mind is how vulnerable economically challenged countries are to the siren of chinas money. Money, as we all know, dictates lots and lots of stuff. And what it hearkened in my mind, before i go off on a tangent here, there are countries in europe that are more challenged than others financially. And certainly, greece as we know it has been through some very, very difficult times. I use greece as an example all the time when i tell people that weve got to hold america tight because you can take the look at, if you go back years, i mean, you look at egypt, you look at rome, you look at greece, they i mean, these were these were fantastic cultures and all three of them now have a tincup. Can that happen in america . Dont tell me it cant happen here. Its happened before and it can happen again. Greece certainly is one of those challenges and money is something that is a people are tempted, greatly tempted when you hold out cash, and what went through my mind, when i read that story, was also, gosh, you think its bad in europe, you ought to go to africa. Yeah. Man, ill tell you, their handful of a little bit of money goes a long way for them in africa. Quick followup before i turn it over to mike. Whenalready purchased a lot of huawei equipment, were saying remove it, does the u. S. Have an imperative to offer an alternative . I feel like thats whats missing. Where is the u. S. Or credible alternative to a huawei in europe . General proposition, any time you tell somebody they ought to be doing something different, you ought to give them an alternative. Huawei, we those of us who are dialed in on the intelligence stuff have been worried about huawei long, long time ago as they were putting their stuff out into the various countries. What looked to us as a very cheap deal, below cost. You wonder what why is china doing that . Its not because they feel good about another country. So so so, weve always been worried about it. We warned everybody as 5g started that china was going to do what america really doesnt do. China took all of its resources, all of its technologies, to put into one basket to develop 5g. We have competing companies. And its not easy for us to do those kinds of things, but youre right, i mean, there should be there should be alternatives put on the table, but what i would say is, i got to be careful how i say this, from an intelligence stand poichbtstandpoint, for those of us who work in this, the possible downsides from an intelligence standpoint of using huaweitype technology or equipment outweighs about everything. That would be the view, clearly articulated view, in the u. S. And countries you mentioned, in australia and japan and vietnam and mongolia, you add up all the market share of countries that say they dont want huawei, its somewhere between 40 and 60 of the telecommunication market. Thats a basis for somebody to come together. No question about it, but, again, 5gs got a real draw, too. Its got that appeal. Yep. Let me ask you, you know, i think the the european views of china are converging largely with what you hear in washington or in some of our allied capitals in asia, but the european statement you referenced in march which had that striking phrase, europe is in systemic competition with china, also had language about the need to cooperate more with china. In my sense from talking to european friends, we have a chance to converge on strategies strategies, but part of the european ask to us is going to be, okay, where is the u. S. Prepared to cooperate with china . I guess that would be my question to you. You mentioned fentanyl and north korea. Do you see areas where soon or maybe somewhere down the road we could make the case to our european friends were also prepared to cooperate with china . Yeah, i think first of all, look, we as i said in my speech, not all engagement with china is bad. Certainly, chinas got a long cultural history that people are interested in, and theres those kinds of things are important. But theyve also got one and a third billion people and those people are consumers so as a result of that, we have in the past done our best to try to cooperate on trade and i think that will happen going forward. Look, whats holding up trade right now, in my judgement, is not so much the numbers and the and the tariffs that are put on, but china has got to develop a rule of law we it comehen it comes to handling intellectual property. It must do that. Not only must it develop a rule of law, it must commit to the enforcement of the rule of law and theyve got to do it by embracing International Norms in that regard. If they do not, and if we dont insist that they do that, this is going to be a very long 21st century. Not only for america, not only for europe, but for the entire world. You cant have a rogue nation out there that just takes what it wants without using fairness as a foundation for compensating people for intellectual property. Intellectual property when it comes to value is not different than hard property. Hard assets. It has the same value and, indeed, many cases more value than hard property does. We wouldnt people wouldnt stand still if they went out and took something that was they went out and took tried to take the mona lisa out of out of france, people would be up in arms, but when they come here and take microChip Technology, you know, it doesnt have the same appeal, but it needs to have the same appeal because modern business, modern industry, modern going forward, really relies on technology. So, i. P. Is extremely important. Quick question. Turning toward nato, nato leaders will gather in early december in london as you mentioned in your speech, theyll be issuing a report on china. Do you believe it is toewssafe for nato forces to go through chinese majorityowned ports . Is that okay . Well, i guess when you say safe, i dont know whether youre talking about kinetic safety or whether youre talking about theft of intellectual property safety. Surveillance. Surveillance safety . Look, militaryies surveil other militaries. I dont think anybodys naive on that. Having said that, i think worried about espionage that is not of the kind that is ordinarily practiced. One would want to be cautious of that. Believe me, we got 17 intelligence agencies very tuned into those including all the Defense Intelligence agencies. Theyre really good at taking care of themselves in that regard. I dont have that worry, but having said that, i think Everyone Needs to be aware of what theyre running into there. Mike . You mentioned shinjong in your speech, i was in just in south asia. Go to indonesia, you travel to pakistan pakistan, muslim majority countries, youd have no idea chinese were doing anything wrong in shinjong. Remarkable. Free societies in u. S. Europe, in particular, are speaking out, as you said, did, about human rights and democracy. Wondering if you can expands on that. European governments are getting there, european parliaments are more outspoken. Is there a legislative dimension to this across the atlantic or in other ways we can, you know, shine the spotlight even more than we have. Yeah, i dont know about legislation, what that tells us, as much as anything, is the Cultural Divide between communism and our democracy. They the chinese dont really believe theyre doing anything wrong. I mean, they believe theyre acting in the best interest of all society. Thats not right. I mean, they they dont have culturally on an individual basis having been brought up like we have through u. S. Culture that the individual has rights, that the individual has rights that in many instances frequently overcome the rights of society. We charge a person with a crime then everybody in town knows committed the crime, but unless they can proof itve it, the person goes free. That doesnt happen in china. If Everybody Knows the guy committed the crime, hes going to prison. And the same is true with whether its speech, whether its practice of religion, whether its whether its coming together to have meetings. Its just its a different thought process. It really is. And probably what goes whats going on there is probably underscores the size of the challenge that we face just because the cultures are so different. We both served in the Bush Administration and i had a point on asia policy in the white house at the nsc, and i can tell you at that point, i think its still true, when our chinese friends saw that the u. S. You know, canada, europe, the eu, were coming together around human rights issues, boy, did that get their attention. Its just us, just japan, just britain or something, they can sort of isolate. When we speak on this in one voice, its pretty powerful. Maybe less than it was in xi jinpings day, but pretty powerful. Yeah, no question about that. Youre absolutely right on that. And as we lead the way, we, the United States, europe, lead the way on this, and the rest of the world is coming along, slower sometimes than what we want, but were leading the way and not so much governments, but as populations see what were doing and they come to buy onto this culture, that will make it tougher and tougher and tougher on china to try to do that. So we need to stay the course in that regard. Senator, we just got some Great Questions from our audience. Any on impeachment . None. Weve cleansed them. Dont worry. Youre good. But one very specifically on the comments on human rights. I dont know if you know this information. When will the hong kong human rights and democracy act reach the senate floor, and to answer that question, have there been discussions on signals from the administration about whether the president will sign this into law, and is it dependent on developments in the u. S. China Economic talks . Trade talks. The last, in my mind, the last question, im going to say absolutely not. Okay. When is the bill going to get to the senate floor . Were having a very difficult time on the senate floor, as you know. Our rules are not really modern rules, so things move slowly there. Weve had a real tough time because of the confirmations, primarily, so, we have to pick and choose what we actually can run. As you know, im a cosponsor of that. A strong proponent of that legislation. I got a lot of staff here that have been actively involved in that and we want it moved. Tomorrow, were actually having a meeting on trying to get scheduling moved on that. The world needs to see the United States will stand up and say, look, this is wrong, we stand with the people of hong kong. And i dont care if we lose a few nba games over there, doesnt bother me in the least. We need to stand up on this one. Well, thank you so much for your comments. Another question, sort of pulls back on the larger picture as you mentioned, you know, this is the collective we, this is about American Leadership even gauginge ing engaging with closest allies and partners to meet a growing challenge. The question is, what is the impact of American International leadership withdrawal including from paris climate accords, military withdrawal in syria, does that impact and hinder what youve been arguing this afternoon which is we need to show leadership, whether its human rights and work against this common challenge . Thats a really good question. Of course, sitting where i do, i view it differently than a lot of people do. I take these transactionally on an individual basis. Were the 800pound gorilla on this planet right now. How long that lasts, i dont know. Were the 800pound gorilla and we can do things that that other people cant do and maintain the power and the view of us that we cant let me give you a good example. I was in the room when the president made the decision on the drone that iran took down. The president , ive never been around a person whos more comfortable in their own skin when it comes to decisionmaking. When it came to that decision, he was somber as ive ever seen him. He gathered a small group of us there, wanted to get all of our thoughts on it. Examined us closely. Played devils advocate as he asked the question, we gave our recommendation. And then as you know, he did not take a specific kinetic reaction to that. I think most other countries if that would have happened, i think the iranians would have said, aha, heres a guy whos weak, heres a country whos weak. I thnk our status in the world still maintains us in that position that, boy, if youre going to push the envelope, be really careful how far you push it. If you push it a skosh too far, its going to be a problem. I dont think on the paris climate accord, im opposed to it. I encouraged the president to get out of it. I would like to see such an accord, but as i told the obama administration, dont do this by yourself. We got three branches of government here. Engage us. If youre going to have an agreement with the United States, its got to be the first and the Second Branch of government that agrees to it. I have this i have this discussion with my friends from europe all the time, they say, you guys breached your agreement on the with iran. Said, no, we didnt. What are you talking about, we breached our agreement with iran . We had no agreement with iran. President obama had an agreement with iran. He said, oh, thats no, its not. Our constitution is black and white. The president can negotiate all these things he wants. You dont buy in the United States until it twothirds of the United States senators agree. They say, thats kind of arrogant, isnt it . No, it isnt. What it does is gives america the full power, the full buyin of an agreement. Thats how you do agreements. So when it came to gcpoa, there was no agreement between iran and the United States. Sometimes i convince the europeans of it, sometimes they just kind of shake their heads and say, i dont get it. I say, look, if you dont get it, let me ask you this. I have no idea how your country binds itself to another country, but, boy, i know how our country does and the jcpoa didnt do. It takes a twothirds vote on the floor of the senate. Some of them buy off and some dont. So, look, i dont im not the situation in syria is another situation the president did what he did. I think the thing was somewhat misunderstood. I think the fact we are maintaining troops where we are maintaining troops on the eastern side of syria maintains what we need in order to respond to a terrorist activity within syria. And im not uncomfortable with where we finally landed. I think, again, the way it was done, i can see where people were a little bit nervous about it. Im happy with where we are. We have about 30 more seconds. Mike, im going to let you pick one question out of your stack. Better be great. Its going to be great. Well let the senator close up then well thank everyone. Mike, last question to you. So i have a question from someone in the audience who asks, hes the person asks, it says, china sets 30year goals while we think in 4year president ial and 6year senatorial terms which actually seems generous. We think in 24hour news cycle terms. How do we articulate a vision that will get americans who are, you know, aged 15 to 35 invested in a longterm competition with china . How do you express that vision in a way where people are geared up for the long haul . No way i know of. Were americans. We do think in short term. I mean, it amazes me when kerry was negotiating with the iranians, they were talking about this deal was going to be 10 or 15 years. You people are crazy. The iranians are persians, remnants of the persian population. They think in terms of 5,000 years. Youre going to let them have a bomb in 15 years . Happy to wait 15 years to get to a nuclear weapon. So that happens in cultures that are different than america. I mean, we are different here. We do think in short term. I dont have an answer for that. Its just not our culture. I mean, our Entertainment Industry in california thinks in terms of months. You know, let alone years or decades or centuries. I dont have an answer for that. I think that and a good example of that is the president the whiplash we had of going from president obama to president trump. Two very, very different ways of doing business and what have you, but, gosh, weve done really, really well thinking in short term over the last 242 years or whatever its been. I was going to rephrase the question, senator, say without worrying too much about our Attention Span, setting that aside for the moment, forgetting about it. The nuns that taught me really worried about my Attention Span, so i get that. So you won 34 elections . I didnt win 34. Youve been in 34. Ive won 32 of the 34. Better than my record. She ran them. She did pretty well on 32 of them. I think you have a sense over the course of some decades now what the American People are up for. So let me rephrase the question. Do you think the American People are ready to compete with china . Thats what a lot of our allies are wondering. Do we have the stuff, whether we have a short Attention Span or longterm Attention Span,. Thats a really good, a better way of phrasing the question and i think the answer to that question is, yes, but patience is not one of our strong suits here in america. So, i think theyre going to want theyre going to want much more shortterm gratification than looking out like china did, what, china 2025, anybody in the room not read that, you need to read that. You know, america in 2025, holy mackerel. People arent thinking 2025. You know, theyre having trouble focusing on 2020 when we have another president ial election. But, look, were americans. We live in the greatest country in the world. For all the complaints we have and all the flaws that we have, we as a people are living better and freer than any human beings in the history of our humanity, which is only about 225,000 years, no one has come anywhere close to the way were living. God bless america. And god bless the system that we have and the Founding Fathers put in place. Thank you, all, for having me here today. applause thank you so much