Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo remarks to the media, August 5, 2020
Transcript
Well, good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the United States, I want to extend our deepest condolences to all those who were affected by that a massive explosion at the port of Beirut yesterday. We stand ready to assist the government 11 on and it’s as it grapples with this horrible tragedy. You’ll see the United States announced a number of things we intend to do to assist the people of Lebanon in the coming days. A quick logistical note. On Monday, I’ll leave for the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria and Poland, all great friends of America. It will be very important in productive trip, I expect now turning to my remarks, I want to start, as I often do, with a few items on communist China. Since I was last year, the world has witnessed more examples of CCP efforts to coerce and control its citizens. Other nations in the US have put out a number of statements. We see it in Hong Kong, where authorities have delayed legislative elections, arrested podium, pro democracy activists issued warrants for freedom loving foreigners, including an American. I urge U S citizens to exercise increased caution while traveling to or in any place in China. We see the CCP is continuing ambition to control Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, and I commend the Treasure Department for using its global Magnitsky authorities against human rights violators there just this past week, and we see to the ccps lawlessness elsewhere in the world. I issued a statement on Sunday about the Chinese flag vessels, predatory fishing practices around the Galapagos Islands, which has alarmed our friends in Ecuador. Look, these aren’t one offs. As I said the Nixon Library this month, freedom loving nations must come together to confront the ccps aggressive behavior. And the good news is, the tide is absolutely turning the central idea of distrust and then verify. I think the world is coming to see is the right approach to responding to these challenges. And we are working in this administration, the Trump Administration hard to protect Americans from those threats. In April, I announced our teams Clean Path initiative to keep Americans data safe from untrusted vendors. Today, I’m pleased to announce the expansion of the clean Network with the launch of five new lines of effort, I walk through them quickly. First clean care. We’re working to ensure that untrusted. Chinese telecom companies don’t provide international telecommunication services between the United States and foreign destinations. I joined Attorney General Barr Secretary Esper, an acting secretary Wolf, in urging the FCC to revoke and terminate the authorizations of China Telecom and three other economies providing services to and from the United States. Second, we call Clean Store. We want to see untrusted Chinese APS removed from US APP stores. President Trump is mentioned impending action on TIC tac and for good reason with parent companies based in China. APS like tic Tac we chat and others are significant threats to personal date of American citizens, not to mention tools for CCP content censorship. Third cleanups were working to prevent, while another untrusted banishment pre installing or making available for download. The most popular US APs. We don’t want companies to be complicit in wall ways, human rights abuses or the ccps surveillance apparatus. Fourth Clean Cloud. We’re protecting Americans most sensitive personal information, and our business is most valuable intellectual property, including Cove IT vaccine research from being accessed on cloud based systems run by companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, China Mobile, China Telecom and 10 Cent. The State Department will work closely with commerce and other agencies to limit the ability of Chinese cloud service providers to collect, to store and to process vast amounts of data and sensitive information. Here in the United States, Fifth and finally clean Cable were working to ensure that the CCP can’t compromise information carried by the undersea cables that connect our country and others to the global Internet Walwyn Marine significantly under bids other companies on multiple procurement to connect Asia, the Pacific Africa in Europe using Chinese state backed underseas technology. We can’t allow that to continue. We call on all freedom loving nations and companies to join the clean network. The Trump Administration’s work to secure democracy continues in other ways as well. The partner states Global Engagement Centers, releasing a special report today on Russian disinformation and propaganda, focusing especially on proxy sites. Speaking of Russia and other malign actors, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, acting at the direction for under the control of a foreign government, interferes with US elections by engaging in certain criminal cyber activities. A few comments on the Middle East. We welcome the agreement between the Republic of Yemen government and the Southern Transitional Council to advance the terms of the Riyadh Agreement, which will pave the way for a unified government that can counter Houthi aggression. We urge all the parties to implement the agreements terms and support the U. N Special Envoy’s efforts to broker a countrywide political settlement. Of course, the conflict in Yemen has raged in large part because the Islamic Republic of Iran’s illegal arms transfers to the Houthis. And so next week, the United States will put forward a resolution in the Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Iran. The Security Council’s mission is to maintain international peace and security. The council would make an absolute mockery of that mission if it allowed the number one state sponsor of terrorism to buy and sell weapons freely. The United States has conducted now a years long diplomacy on this matter. We have a bipartisan consensus in Congress. We have a 13 year consensus on the council and the proposal we put forward. It’s eminently reasonable one way or another one way, now that we will do the right thing. We will ensure that the arms embargo is extended and staying on the United Nations matter for just a moment. It’s outrageous that the Human Rights Council would offer to see Cuba a critical, brutal dictatorship, the traffic, its own doctors under the guise of humanitarian missions. No country should vote Cuba onto the council. Two quick items on religious freedom First on behalf of President Trump in the American people, I want to express our solidarity with the Yazidi people as we commemorate the sixth anniversary of the beginning of Isis genocide. Much has been done by our administration to help Iraqis recover, but much more work remains. And on a brighter note, I commend the progress that Sudan is making to protect religious freedom in its country as the country transitions away from radical Islamist rule. Last month, the civilian led transitional government abolished apostasy as a crime, a solid step forward. The global efforts to as a close to fight the pandemic continue. This week, the State Department in U. S. Idea releasing an incremental $53 million in new humanitarian and economic assistance to help vulnerable people partners continue to fight this deadly virus, bringing our total to more than 1.6 billion. We will also be launching a $10 million Kobe 19 private sector engagement of partnership fund to invest that $10 million in promising new products markets and ideas for mitigating the economic impacts of the pandemic. And with that, I’m happy to take some questions. Okay. First question will get their own lives. And given the line of Matt Levy’s Harry, can you hear me? Mad? I can barely hear you early. There you go. Get you off speaker. And yes, much better, man. Okay. Thank you. To really put 11 on Iran. Set that one way or the other. One way or another, we will ensure the markets get so that highly your resolution fails, you will move to invoke snapback. And secondly, on the acting you concerned at all that his departure for particular movil a fine line. The work of the Inspector General’s office. Thank you, Matt. Let me try to take the 2nd 1 You broke up a little bit. You asked the question. I think about the departure of acting. I g Steve occurred. He left to go back home. This happens. I don’t have anything more to add to that. As for Iran, we’ve made clear and I don’t want to be too cute by half. Our mission set is unambiguous presidents. Guidance is very clear when I could let the arms embargo expire on October 18th of this year. It’s one of the central failings of the JCP away and a pad thing for the world. Ron to buy and sell you scene. You see in the comments in the press about a deal between Iran and China. There are nations lining up to sell weapons that will destabilize the Middle East. Put Israel risk, Put Europe at risk, risk American lives as well. We’re not gonna let it happen. And so we’re using every diplomatic tool we have in the tool kit. I don’t, as I said, I want to be too cute. Were deeply aware that snapback is an option that’s available to the United States and we’re going to do everything within America’s power to ensure that that arms embargo is extended, and I’m confident that we will be successful. Mr. Secretary, can you talk a little bit about the decision to send Secretary a czar to Taiwan What the message is behind this trip. And Aziz, you probably know the Chinese Communist government says the visit and dangerous cheese instability, uh, and sending the wrong signals and is urging for the trip, not proceed. What is your response to that? So I won’t say anything about the decision. Other than Cabinet members have traveled to Taiwan previously, this is consistent with policies of previous times. He’s going there with the deep and important purpose. We’re still in a global pandemic. He’s going to go there. Talk about Taiwan has had some significant success and how they have they’ve handled this we have. We have wanted them to be part of the conversations at the World Health or Assembly that China has prevented that from happening and so go there and talk to them about public health issues as they relate. How we all move forward with respect to how we handle Kobe and the opportunity for therapeutics and vaccines moved forward and way welcome the expertise that Taiwan brings to that high. If I think important conversations with them about that, thank you more and over nights are marks 75 years since the United States are reached the first, our atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki. So could you tell us your opinion on nuclear arms control are in creating that future? You start treaty between us and Russell. President Trump, literally, since I’ve I first met him first of my role of CIA director now a secretary of state has made clear one of his top priorities is ensuring that we don’t have a really bad day in the world as a result of a nuclear weapon being used. So we have worked along multiple fronts. For example, we left the i N f Treaty because the Russians weren’t complying with that, and that was threat that add the risk of being destabilized. Because when you have an arms control agreement and only one of the two parties is complying, you have created strategic risk. But in the last handful of months, we’ve been working diligently to get the three nations that have the largest nuclear capabilities United States, Russia and China to have a strategic dialogue about how we move forward together to decrease the risk to the world that thes thes massive weapons were used and we have made progress with Russians. We had two good gatherings. I hope we’ll have one before too long, Uh, and we’re hopeful that the Chinese will choose to participate. We think it’s in their best interest. We know it’s in the best interest of the world. And for nations that assert they won’t win win solutions, that they want a good outcomes, that they want to be a player on a global stage, they now move to point where they need to, like the United States and Russia. Be prepared to engage in conversations about how you create a strategic situation that reduces the rest that nuclear weapons will used at any time or any place anywhere in the world. I hope they’ll participate in that. We hope the Russians will urge them to participate in that we help. The whole world will come to understand that it’s very important that those three nuclear powers with significant resources and capabilities will come together to create a more robust, more stable strategic situation with respect to the rest, not only of the use of nuclear weapons but on their proliferation. This well, take questions. Can you talk about the route, Mr Secretary