Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke this morning at an Atlantic Council Front Page internet interview, where he held forth on the necessity of containing the China threat to the world. He was interviewed for a half-hour by Atlantic Council President Fred. Kemp. He otherwise addressed new deal-making in the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe.
Kemp asked Pompeo directly to expound on the meaning of Pompeo’s speech at the Nixon Library speech on July 23, and that of the other three officials in the quartet of speeches that Pompeo commissioned this summer on China—Attorney General William Barr, FBI Director Christopher Wray and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.
Pompeo said that “the outcome we seek” in our foreign policy, is a world system, for the next 100 years, that will not allow China to achieve its domination goals. China has “Marxist underpinnings.” It has “state-sponsored enterprises.” China has “civil military fusion projects.” You may hear talk of “national rejuvenation,” but they are trying to undermine other nations. They are taking a “Middle Kingdom” approach.
Pompeo said of the Nixon era, that “whatever the 1970s policy,” it “no longer makes sense.” This is not just a security issue, but it is a matter of economic and social values policy too. Understanding this is central to President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, and it will be central to every administration for years to come.
