副总统彭斯关于政府对华政策的演讲

2018年10月4日在哈德森学院

副总统办公室

副总统迈克·彭斯（Mike Pence）就本届政府对中国的政策发表讲话

哈得逊研究所（The Hudson Institute）
华盛顿特区（Washington, D.C.）
2018年10月4日

东部夏令时上午11时07分

肯（Ken），谢谢你的亲切介绍。各位理事会成员（Members of the Board of Trustees），白邦瑞（Michael Pillsbury）博士，我们尊敬的嘉宾，以及所有那些忠实于你们以“以非传统方式思考未来”的使命的人士，回到哈得逊研究所发表演讲，令我深感荣幸。

半个多世纪以来，贵所一直致力于“推进全球的安全、繁荣与自由”。虽然哈得逊这些年来数次搬迁，但始终不变的是：你们一直在彰显一个至关重要的事实，即美国的领导作用照亮前行之路。

今天，说到领导作用，请允许我首先转达美国在国内外的领导作用的倡导者——美利坚合众国第45任总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）的问候。

本届政府上任伊始，特朗普总统就将我们与中国以及习主席的关系作为一个优先事项。去年4月6日，特朗普总统在马阿拉歌庄园（Mar-A-Lago）接待了习主席。去年11月8日，特朗普总统前往北京，受到中国领导人的热情款待。

在过去两年中，我们的总统与中华人民共和国主席建立了牢固的个人关系，他们在共同关心的问题上密切合作，最重要的是朝鲜半岛的无核化问题。

但是，我今天来此是因为美国人民应该知道，目前，北京正在动用一种政府上下全面参与的方式，利用政治、经济、军事以及宣传手段来扩大其影响，增进其在美国的利益。

中国也在以比以往更活跃的方式运用这种力量，对我们的国内政策和政治施加影响及干预。

在特朗普总统的领导下，我们已采取果断行动，以美国的领导作用对中国作出回应，并应用贵所长期倡导的各项原则与政策。

在特朗普总统于去年12月发布的《国家安全战略》（National Security Strategy）中，他描述了一个“大国竞争”的新时代。正如我们所言，外国已经开始“在地区和全球范围内重新施加其影响力”，并“挑战[美国的]地缘政治优势，试图改变国际秩序以使之为其所用”。

特朗普总统在这一战略中清楚地表明，美利坚合众国已对中国采取了一种新的做法。我们寻求一种以公平、对等和尊重主权为基础的关系，而且我们采取了迅速有力的行动来实现这一目标。

诚如特朗普总统在去年访问中国时所说，“我们面临着一个加强两国关系、改善我们公民生活的机会”。我们对未来的愿景建立在我们历史上的最佳时期，当时美国和中国都本着开放和友好的精神彼此接近。

在美国独立战争（Revolutionary War）之后，当我们这个年轻的国家为出口商品寻求新的市场时，中国人对从事人参和皮货贸易的美国商人表示欢迎。

当中国在其称之为“百年国耻”的时期遭受侮辱和剥削时，美国拒绝参与其中，并倡导“门户开放”（Open Door）政策，以使我们能够与中国进行更为自由的贸易，并维护他们的主权。

当美国传教士们将福音传到中国本土时，他们被一个古老而充满活力的民族的丰厚文化而感动。他们不仅传播了信仰，还创办了中国一些最早的、最优秀的大学。

当第二次世界大战（Second World War）爆发时，我们作为盟友并肩作战一起抗击帝国主义。战争结束以后，美国确保中国成为联合国（United Nations）的创始成员国以及战后世界格局的一个重要的缔造者。

但中国共产党在1949年掌权后不久，就开始奉行威权扩张主义。令人惊愕的是，仅在我们两国并肩抗敌五年之后，我们就在朝鲜半岛的山峦和峡谷中交战了。我父亲就曾奔赴前线，参加这场捍卫自由的战争。

但即便是残酷的朝鲜战争也未能削弱我们恢复那些长期以来将我们连结在一起的纽带的共同愿望。中国与美国的疏离于1972年结束，此后不久，我们恢复了外交关系，开始相互开放经济，而且美国大学也开始培训新一代的中国工程师、商界领袖、学者和官员。

在苏联解体以后，我们以为一个自由的中国必然会出现。基于这种乐观态度，美国在21世纪到来之际，同意向北京开放我国经济，并促成中国加入世界贸易组织（World Trade Organization）。

美国前几届政府做出这样的选择是希望中国能够在各个领域中扩大自由——不仅仅在经济上，而且在政治上，对传统自由主义原则、私有财产、宗教自由以及所有各项人权都表现出新的尊重……但是这一希望未能实现。

自由的梦想对中国人民来说依然遥不可及。虽然北京口头上仍然承诺继续“改革开放”，但邓小平的这项著名政策现已成为空谈。

在过去的17年里，中国的国内生产总值（GDP）增长了9倍，它已成为世界第二大经济体。这一成功在很大程度上是由美国在中国的投资所推动的。而中国共产党却采用了一系列与自由和公平贸易相悖的政策手段，例如关税、配额、货币操纵、强制技术转让、知识产权盗窃，以及像发糖果一样随意发放产业补贴。这些政策为北京奠定了制造业的基础，但却以牺牲其竞争对手，特别是美利坚合众国的利益为代价。

中国的这些行为造成了与美国的贸易逆差，去年高达3750亿美元——几乎占我们全球贸易逆差的一半。正如特朗普总统本周所言，在过去的25年里“我们重建了中国”。

目前，中国共产党已着眼于通过“中国制造2025计划”控制全球90％的最先进行业，包括机器人技术、生物技术和人工智能。为了控制21世纪的经济制高点，北京指示其官僚及企业以任何必要手段来获取作为我们经济领导力基础的美国知识产权。

北京现在要求许多美国企业交出商业机密作为其在中国经营的代价，并协调和资助收购美国公司以获得其创新所有权。最为严重的是，中国的一些安全机构策划全面盗窃美国的技术，包括最尖端的军事技术蓝图。

利用这些偷盗的技术，中国共产党正在大规模地开展“铸犁为剑”的行动。

中国目前的军费开支相当于亚洲其他国家军费开支的总和，北京将扩展军力作为优先考虑，以在陆地、海上、空中和太空全面削弱美国的军事优势。中国想要将美利坚合众国挤出西太平洋（Western Pacific），企图阻止我们对我们的盟国施以援手。但是他们不会得逞。

北京还在以前所未有的方式宣示力量。中国船只经常在由日本管理的尖阁列岛（Senkaku Islands）周围巡逻。虽然中国领导人曾于2015年在白宫玫瑰园（Rose Garden of the White House）表示，他的国家“无意使南中国海（South China Sea）军事化”，但今天，北京已经在一系列人造岛屿的军事基地上部署了先进的反舰和防空导弹。

中国的扩张性在本周暴露无遗。当美国驱逐舰“迪凯特号”（USS Decatur）在南中国海进行自由航行时，一艘中国海军舰艇逼近到45码范围内，迫使我们的军舰迅速采取避撞动作。尽管受到这种不顾后果的骚扰，美国海军将继续在国际法允许和国家利益要求的任何地方飞行、航行和运作。我们不会被吓倒，我们不会退缩。（掌声）

美国曾希望经济自由化将推动中国与我们以及整个世界建立起更强大的伙伴关系。但相反，中国选择了经济侵略，并使其不断强化的军队肆无忌惮。

北京也没有像我们所希望的那样让人民享有更大的自由。北京曾一度在扩大自由和尊重人权方面作出小幅改进。但近年来，它已朝着控制和压迫的方向急转直下。

今天，中国已建立起一个无可匹敌的监控国家，并经常是得益于美国的技术而变得范围更广和侵入性更大。“中国防火长城”越建越高，严重限制中国人民的信息自由流通。到2020年，中国统治者的目标是实施一个奥威尔式体制（Orwellian system），旨在控制人民生活的几乎所有方面，即所谓的“社会信用分数”。引用该计划的官方蓝图来说，它将“让守信者畅行天下，失信者寸步难行”。

在宗教自由方面，新的迫害浪潮正在冲击中国的基督徒、佛教徒和穆斯林。

上个月，北京关闭了一个中国最大的地下教会。在全国各地，当局正在拆除十字架，焚烧圣经和监禁信徒。北京现在已与梵蒂冈（Vatican）达成协议，这使得公开宣称无神论的共产党在任命天主教主教方面可以直接发挥作用。对于中国的基督徒来说，这些是令人绝望的时刻。

北京也在打压佛教。在过去十年中，有超过150名藏传佛教僧侣为抗议中国对其信仰和文化的压制而自焚身亡。在新疆，中国共产党在政府拘押设施中监禁了多达100万的维吾尔族穆斯林，他们在那里受到夜以继日的洗脑教育。这些营地的幸存者描述说，他们所经历的是北京对维吾尔文化的蓄意扼杀和企图摧毁穆斯林信仰。

但正如历史所表明的那样，一个压迫自己人民的国家很少就此止步。北京还试图将其影响扩展到更广泛的世界范围。诚如哈得逊研究所的白邦瑞博士所言，“中国反对美国政府的行动和目标。实际上，中国正在与美国的盟友和敌人建立自己的关系，这与北京的任何和平性或建设性意向都自相矛盾”。

实际上，中国利用所谓的“债务外交”来扩大其影响力。今天，中国向亚洲、非洲、欧洲甚至拉丁美洲的政府提供数千亿美元的基础设施贷款。然而，这些贷款的条款充其量是隐晦的，而且从中受益的主要是北京。

可以问问斯里兰卡。它承担了巨额债务，让中国的国有企业建立了一个商业价值令人质疑的港口。两年前，该国无力继续还贷，北京借此向斯里兰卡施压，要求将这个新港口直接交到中国人手中。它可能很快就会成为中国不断壮大的蓝水海军的一个前沿军事基地。

在我们的西半球范围内，北京向委内瑞拉腐败无能的马杜罗（Maduro）政权提供了生命线，承诺提供可用石油偿还的50亿美元的可疑贷款。中国也是该国最大的单一债权国，使委内瑞拉人民承受超过500亿美元的债务负担。北京还通过向那些承诺顺应中国战略目标的政党和候选人提供直接支持，从而腐化了一些国家的政治。

仅自去年一年以来，中国共产党已说服了三个拉丁美洲国家与台北中断关系，承认北京。这些行动威胁到台湾海峡（Taiwan Strait）的稳定，美利坚合众国对此予以谴责。虽然美国政府将会继续恪守我们的一个中国政策(One China Policy），一如三个联合公报和《台湾关系法》（Taiwan Relations Act）所述，但美国将始终坚信：台湾所拥护的民主制为所有华人提供了一条更好的道路。

这些只是中国在全球范围内寻求推进其战略利益的几种方式，且其强度和复杂程度在不断提高。然而，以前的几届美国政府几乎都忽略了中国的行动，在许多情况下，他们助长了那些行动。但那些日子一去不复返了。

在特朗普总统的领导下，美利坚合众国以重新焕发的美国实力捍卫我们的利益。

我们使世界历史上最强大的军队变得更为强大。今年年初，总统签署了一项自罗纳德·里根（Ronald Reagan）时代以来最大的国防增幅预算法案——7160亿美元，以扩展我们在各个领域的军事主导地位。

我们正在使我们的核武库现代化，我们正在部署和开发新的尖端战斗机和轰炸机，我们正在建造新一代航空母舰和战舰，我们正在以前所未有的方式对我们的武装力量进行投资。这包括启动建立美国太空部队（United States Space Force）的程序，以确保我们继续在太空占据主导地位，并授权加强网络领域的实力，建立针对我们对手的威慑力。

在特朗普总统的指示下，我们还对2500亿美元的中国商品施加关税，其中最高的关税是专门针对北京试图获取和控制的那些先进行业。总统还明确表示，除非达成一项公平和互惠的协议，否则我们将征收更多的关税，数字可能会大幅度增加一倍以上。（掌声）

这些行动——运用美国的实力——已产生了重大影响。中国最大的证券交易所今年前9个月下跌了25％，这在很大程度上是因为我们的政府对北京的贸易做法进行了抵制。

正如特朗普总统清楚表明的那样，我们不希望中国的市场遭受损失。事实上，我们希望它繁荣发展。但美国希望北京能够奉行自由、公平和互惠的贸易政策。我们将继续坚定不移地要求他们这样做。（掌声）

可悲的是，中国的当权者到目前为止一直拒绝走这条道路。美国人民应该知道，针对特朗普总统所采取的强硬立场，北京正在展开一场全面和协调进行的运动，试图削弱对总统、我们的议程和我们国家最珍贵理念的支持。

我今天想告诉各位我们对中国行动的一些了解，其中有些是我们从情报评估中收集到的，有些是公开信息。但所有这些都是事实。

如前所述，北京正在采取一个各政府部门之间的协同方法以推进其影响，增进其利益。它正在以更活跃和更具胁迫性的方式利用这种力量来干涉美国的国内政策和政治。

中国共产党在对美国的企业、电影制片厂、大学、智库、学者、记者以及地方、州和联邦官员进行诱惑或胁迫。

最恶劣的是，中国发动了前所未有的行动，对美国公众舆论、2018年选举以及2020年总统大选之前的环境施加影响。

坦率地说，特朗普总统的领导正在奏效，而中国所想要的是另外一个美国总统。

毫无疑问，中国正在干涉美国的民主制度。正如特朗普总统上周所说，我们已“发现中国一直在试图干扰我们即将到来的2018年[中期]选举”。

我们的情报机构说，“中国正在针对美国州、地方政府和官员，利用联邦和地方各级政府之间在政策上的任何分歧，利用诸如关税等会造成分歧的问题，来推进北京的政治影响”。

6月份，北京传发了一份题为“宣传和审查通知”的敏感文件，其中提出了它的策略。该文件说，中国必须“实施准确和谨慎的打击，分化[美国国内]不同群体”。

为达此目的，北京调动了秘密行动人员、幌子组织和宣传喉舌，以图改变美国人对中国政策的看法。我们情报机构的一位资深工作人员最近告诉我，与中国在我们国家所进行的活动相比，俄国人的所作所为实在是相形见绌。美国人民应该知道这一点。

中国的高层官员还曾企图影响一些商界领袖来对我们的贸易行动提出谴责，利用他们在中国维持运营的愿望。最近的一个例子是，他们威胁一家美国的大公司，如果该公司拒绝公开反对美国政府的政策的话，就将拒绝批准其营业执照。

就对中期选举施加影响而言，你只要看看北京在关税方面对我们的回应就一目了然了。他们针对的都是那些将在2018年选举中发挥重要作用的行业和州。据一项估计，在中国企图施加影响的美国各县当中，80％以上在2016年投票支持了特朗普总统。现在中国想让这些选民来反对我们的政府。

中国还在直接对美国选民施加影响。就在上周，中国政府在《得梅因纪事报》（Des Moines Register）买了多页插刊。该报是我们驻中国大使的家乡的主要报纸，而该州是2018年选举中的一个关键州。这一插刊的设计使它看起来像新闻报道，把我们的贸易政策说成是鲁莽的，对爱奥华州人是有害的。

所幸的是，美国人并不买账。例如，美国农民与总统站在一起，他们看到他所采取的强势立场取得了实在的成果，包括本周的《美国-墨西哥-加拿大协议》（U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement），我们为美国产品大幅度地打开了北美市场，这个协议对美国农民和制造商来说都是巨大胜利。

但是，中国的行动并非仅仅集中在影响我们的政策和政治。北京还采取行动，利用其经济杠杆和中国庞大的国内市场的吸引力，加紧对美国公司施加影响。

北京现在要求在中国经营的美国合资企业在其公司内部建立“党组织”，让中国共产党在招聘和投资决策中拥有发言权——或是否决权。

中国当局还对一些将台湾称作一个独特的地理实体或在西藏问题上与中国政策相左的美国公司进行威胁。北京迫使达美航空公司（Delta Airlines）公开道歉，因为其网站上没有将台湾称为“中国的一个省”。它还迫使万豪(Marriott）解雇了一位对有关西藏的推文表示喜欢的美国员工。

北京经常要求好莱坞（Hollywood）以绝对正面角度描绘中国，并惩罚那些不这样做的制片厂和制片人。北京的审查机构迅速剪辑或取缔哪怕对中国只有轻微批评的影片。电影《僵尸世界大战》（World War Z）不得不将剧本中提到病毒源自中国的片段删掉。电影《赤色黎明》(Red Dawn)做了数字技术剪辑，将反面人物从中国人变成北韩人。

但是，除商业之外，中国共产党正在把数十亿美元用在对美国以及其他国家的宣传渠道上。

中国国际广播电台在全美30多个电台播放亲北京的节目，其中很多是在美国大城市。中国全球电视网在美国的覆盖率超过7500万人，它直接从共产党主子那里获得指令。正如一位中国最高领导人在访问该电台总部时所说，“党和政府办的媒体是宣传的前沿阵地，必须姓党”。

正因为如此，上个月美国司法部（Department of Justice）下令这一广播网登记为外国代理人。

中国共产党还因为有些美国记者的深度调查而威胁和拘留了这些记者在中国的家属。中国还封锁了一些美国媒体机构的网站，使我们的记者难以获得签证。在《纽约时报》（New York Times）发表了有关中国一些领导人财富的调查报告后发生了这种情况。

但是，媒体并非是中国共产党试图建立审查文化的唯一领域。在学术界也是如此。

可以仅看看中国学生学者联合会（Chinese Students and Scholars Associations）。它在美国校园有超过150个分支。这些团体帮助在美国学习的43万多名中国公民中的一些人组织社交活动，当中国学生和美国学校偏离共产党路线时，他们会向中国领事馆和大使馆报告。

在马里兰大学（University of Maryland），一位中国学生最近在她的毕业典礼上发表演讲时提到美国“言论自由的清新空气”。中国共产党的官方报纸马上对她进行谴责，她成为中国严密控制的社交媒体风暴的受害者，她在国内的家人也受到骚扰。该大学与中国的交流项目原本是美国最广泛的之一，而突然间便从一股洪水变成了涓涓细流。

中国也通过一些其他方式来施加学术压力。北京当局向大学、智库和学者慷慨提供资金，而后者知道他们需要避免提出那些中共认为是危险或冒犯性的想法。尤其是那些中国专家深知，如果他们的研究与北京政权的论点相抵触的话，他们的签证就会被推迟或被拒绝。

正如哈得逊研究所的研究人员所亲身体验的那样，甚至那些避免使用中国资金的学者和团体也被中国当成对象。如果你请一个北京不喜欢的演讲者来演讲，你的网站就会遭到来自上海的重大网络攻击。各位比大多数人都清楚，中国共产党是在企图破坏美国今天的学术自由和言论自由。

这些以及其他一些行动作为一个整体，旨在加强努力，使美国的公众舆论和公共政策偏离特朗普总统提出的“美国优先”（America First）领导力。但是，我们要正告中国当局的是：特朗普总统不会让步——而且美国人民不会被动摇。即使我们希望改善与北京的关系，我们仍将继续有力维护我们的安全和经济。

我们的政府将继续采取果断行动，保护美国的利益、美国的就业和美国的安全。

在我们重建军队的过程中，我们将继续维护美国在印太地区（Indo-Pacific）的利益。

在我们回应中国的贸易做法时，我们将继续要求与中国建立一种自由、公平和互惠的经济关系，要求北京打破贸易壁垒，履行贸易义务，就像我们一样，全面开放经济。

我们将继续对北京采取行动，直到盗窃美国知识产权的行为彻底结束。我们将继续坚定立场，直到北京停止强行技术转让的掠夺性做法。我们将保护美国企业的私有财产利益。(掌声)

为推进我们对自由开放的印太地区的愿景，我们正在与整个地区——从印度到萨摩亚——与我们拥有共同价值观念的国家建立新的更强大的纽带。我们的关系源于尊重的精神，是基于合作而非主宰关系。

我们正努力在双边关系的基础上达成新的贸易协议。就在上周，特朗普总统与韩国签署了一项更好的贸易协议，我们不久将开始与日本谈判一项历史性的双边自由贸易协议。（掌声）

我还高兴地报告，我们正在精简一些国际发展和融资计划，为某些国家提供一个公正透明的选择，替代中国债务陷阱外交。为此，特朗普总统将在几天内签署一项《建设法案》（BUILD Act）。

下个月，我将有幸代表美国出席在新加坡和巴布亚新几内亚举行的东盟(ASEAN)和亚太经合组织(APEC)会议。在那里，我们将公布一些支持一个自由开放的印太地区的新措施和计划。我将代表特朗普总统传达这样一个信息，即美国对印太地区的强大承诺是前所未有的。（掌声）

在国内，为保护我们的利益，我们强化了美国外国投资委员会（CFIUS – the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States），提高我们对中国投资的审查，以保护我们的国家安全不受北京掠夺性行为的伤害。

就北京对美国的政治和政策的恶意影响和干涉而言，无论它采取何种形式，我们都会继续予以曝光。我们将与社会各阶层领导人合作，捍卫我们的国家利益和最珍贵的理念。美国人民将发挥决定性作用，事实上，他们已经在发挥这个作用。

当我们在这里聚会时，全美各地正在形成一种共识。

越来越多的商界领袖正在考虑下一季度之后的事情，并在进入中国市场之前——如果这意味着要转交他们的知识产权或助长北京的压制的话——三思而行。但是，必须有更多公司这样做。例如，谷歌（Google）应该立即停止开发“蜻蜓”( Dragonfly)应用程序，因为这个程序将加强中国共产党的审查并损害中国用户的隐私。

我们也很高兴看到越来越多的记者没有恐惧或偏见地报道真相，深入挖掘中国对我们的社会进行的干扰及原因。我们希望更多的美国和全球新闻机构都会加入这一行列。

更多的学者在有力地大声呼吁和捍卫学术自由，更多的大学和智库在鼓起勇气拒绝接受北京拱手相送的资金，因为他们认识到每一美元都伴随着相应的要求。我们相信他们的行列将不断扩大。

在全国范围内，美国人民越来越提高警惕，对本届政府重建美国与中国的经济和战略关系的行动有了新的认识。美国人坚定地支持一位把美国放在第一位的总统。

在特朗普总统的领导下，美国将坚持到底。中国应该懂得，美国人民及其他们选出的两党代表都有坚定决心。

正如我们的《国家安全战略》所述：“竞争并不总是意味着敌对”。也正如特朗普总统所申明，我们希望与北京建立起一种建设性关系，让我们的繁荣与安全共同发展，而不是分道扬镳。虽然北京正在与这一愿景渐行渐远，但中国当局仍然可以改弦易辙，回到“改革开放”和更大自由的精神上来。这是美国人民希望看到的结果，也是中国人民应该得到的结果。

中国伟大的小说家鲁迅经常感叹说，他的国家“对于异族历来只有两样称呼，一样是禽兽，一样是圣上”，从没有说“他也同我们一样的”。今天，美国向中国伸出双手，我们也希望北京能很快作出回应——用行动而非言辞，并重新尊重美国。但是，在我们与中国的关系是基于公平、互惠和尊重主权之前，我们不会退让。 （掌声）

中国有句古话告诉我们:“ 人见目前，天见久远。”在前进的道路上，让我们秉持决心和信念追求一个和平与繁荣的未来。

坚信特朗普总统的领导力以及他与中国国家主席所建立的关系。

坚信美国人民和中国人民之间持久的友谊。

坚信上苍能够看到未来——上帝赐福，美国和中国将共同迎接这一未来。

谢谢大家。上帝保佑各位。上帝保佑美利坚合众国。 （掌声）

结束

副总统迈克·彭斯就本届政府对中国的政策发表讲话

Remarks delivered by President Mike Pence on the administration’s policy towards China at Hudson Institute on October 4, 2018:

Thank you, Ken, for that kind introduction. To the Members of the Board of Trustees, to Dr. Michael Pillsbury, to our distinguished guests, and to all of you who, true to your mission, “think about the future in unconventional ways” – it’s an honor to be back at the Hudson Institute.

For more than half a century, this Institute has dedicated itself to “advancing global security, prosperity, and freedom.” And while Hudson’s hometowns have changed over the years, one thing has held constant: You have always advanced that vital truth, that American leadership lights the way.

And today, I bring greetings from a champion of American leadership, at home and abroad – the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump.

From early in this administration, President Trump has made our relationship with China and President Xi a priority. On April 6th of last year, President Trump welcomed President Xi to Mar-A-Lago. On November 8th of last year, President Trump traveled to Beijing, where China’s leader welcomed him warmly.

Over the course of the past 2 years, our President has forged a strong personal relationship with the president of the People’s Republic of China, and they’ve worked closely on issues of common interest, most importantly the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula…

But I come before you today because the American people deserve to know… as we speak, Beijing is employing a whole-of-government approach, using political, economic, and military tools, as well as propaganda, to advance its influence and benefit its interests in the United States.

China is also applying this power in more proactive ways than ever before, to exert influence and interfere in the domestic policy and politics of our country.

Under our administration, we’ve taken decisive action to respond to China with American leadership, applying the principles, and the policies, long advocated in these halls.

In the “National Security Strategy” that President Trump released last December, he described a new era of “great power competition.” Foreign nations have begun to “reassert their influence regionally and globally,” and they are “contesting [America’s] geopolitical advantages and trying to change the international order in their favor.”

In this strategy, President Trump made clear that the United States of America has adopted a new approach to China. We seek a relationship grounded in fairness, reciprocity, and respect for sovereignty, and we have taken strong and swift action to achieve that goal.

As the President said last year on his visit to China, “we have an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and improve the lives of our citizens.” Our vision of the future is built on the best parts of our past, when America and China reached out to one another in a spirit of openness and friendship…

When our young nation went searching in the wake of the Revolutionary War for new markets for our exports, the Chinese people welcomed Americans traders laden with ginseng and fur…

When China suffered through indignities and exploitation during her so-called “Century of Humiliation,” America refused to join in, and advocated the “Open Door” policy, so that we could have freer trade with China, and preserve their sovereignty…

When American missionaries brought the good news to China’s shores, they were moved by the rich culture of an ancient but vibrant people, and not only did they spread faith; they also founded some of China’s first and finest universities…

When the Second World War arose, we stood together as allies in the fight against imperialism… And in that war’s aftermath, America ensured that China became a Charter member of the United Nations, and a great shaper of the post-war world.

But soon after it took power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party began to pursue authoritarian expansionism. Only five years after our nations had fought together, we fought each other, on the mountains and in the valleys of the Korean Peninsula. My own father saw combat on those frontlines of freedom.

Not even the brutal Korean War could diminish our mutual desire to restore the ties that for so long bound us together. China’s estrangement from the United States ended in 1972, and soon after, we re-established diplomatic relations, began to open our economies to one another, and American universities began training a new generation of Chinese engineers, business leaders, scholars, and officials.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, we assumed that a free China was inevitable. Heady with optimism, at the turn of the 21st Century, America agreed to give Beijing open access to our economy, and bring China into the World Trade Organization.

Previous administrations made this choice in the hope that freedom in China would expand in all forms – not just economically, but politically, with a newfound respect for classical liberal principles, private property, religious freedom, and the entire family of human rights… but that hope has gone unfulfilled.

The dream of freedom remains distant for the Chinese people. And while Beijing still pays lip service to “reform and opening,” Deng Xiaoping’s famous policy now rings hollow.

Over the past 17 years, China’s GDP has grown 9-fold; it has become the second-largest economy in the world. Much of this success was driven by American investment in China. And the Chinese Communist Party has also used an arsenal of policies inconsistent with free and fair trade, including tariffs, quotas, currency manipulation, forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and industrial subsidies doled out like candy, to name a few. These policies have built Beijing’s manufacturing base, at the expense of its competitors – especially America.

China’s actions have contributed to a trade deficit with the United States that last year ran to $375 billion – nearly half of our global trade deficit. As President Trump said just this week, “we rebuilt China” over the last 25 years.

Now, through the “Made in China 2025” plan, the Communist Party has set its sights on controlling 90% of the world’s most advanced industries, including robotics, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence. To win the commanding heights of the 21st Century economy, Beijing has directed its bureaucrats and businesses to obtain American intellectual property – the foundation of our economic leadership – by any means necessary.

Beijing now requires many American businesses to hand over their trade secrets as the cost of doing business in China. It also coordinates and sponsors the acquisition of American firms to gain ownership of their creations. Worst of all, Chinese security agencies have masterminded the wholesale theft of American technology – including cutting-edge military blueprints.

And using that stolen technology, the Chinese Communist Party is turning plowshares into swords on a massive scale…

China now spends as much on its military as the rest of Asia combined, and Beijing has prioritized capabilities to erode America’s military advantages – on land, at sea, in the air, and in space. China wants nothing less than to push the United States of America from the Western Pacific and attempt to prevent us from coming to the aid of our allies.

Beijing is also using its power like never before. Chinese ships routinely patrol around the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan. And while China’s leader stood in the Rose Garden of the White House in 2015 and said that his country had “no intention to militarize the South China Sea,” today, Beijing has deployed advanced anti-ship and anti-air missiles atop an archipelago of military bases constructed on artificial islands.

China’s aggression was on display this week, when a Chinese naval vessel came within 45 yards of the USS Decatur as it conducted freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, forcing our ship to quickly maneuver to avoid collision. Despite such reckless harassment, the United States Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows and our national interests demand. We will not be intimidated; we will not stand down.

America had hoped that economic liberalization would bring China into greater partnership with us and with the world. Instead, China has chosen economic aggression, which has in turn emboldened its growing military.

Nor, as we hoped, has Beijing moved toward greater freedom for its people. For a time, Beijing inched toward greater liberty and respect for human rights, but in recent years, it has taken a sharp U-turn toward control and oppression.

Today, China has built an unparalleled surveillance state, and it’s growing more expansive and intrusive – often with the help of U.S. technology. The “Great Firewall of China” likewise grows higher, drastically restricting the free flow of information to the Chinese people. And by 2020, China’s rulers aim to implement an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life – the so-called “social credit score.” In the words of that program’s official blueprint, it will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven, while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”

And when it comes to religious freedom, a new wave of persecution is crashing down on Chinese Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims…

Last month, Beijing shut down one of China’s largest underground churches. Across the country, authorities are tearing down crosses, burning bibles, and imprisoning believers. And Beijing has now reached a deal with the Vatican that gives the avowedly atheist Communist Party a direct role in appointing Catholic bishops. For China’s Christians, these are desperate times.

Beijing is also cracking down on Buddhism. Over the past decade, more than 150 Tibetan Buddhist monks have lit themselves on fire to protest China’s repression of their beliefs and culture. And in Xinjiang, the Communist Party has imprisoned as many as one million Muslim Uyghurs in government camps where they endure around-the-clock brainwashing. Survivors of the camps have described their experiences as a deliberate attempt by Beijing to strangle Uyghur culture and stamp out the Muslim faith.

But as history attests, a country that oppresses its own people rarely stops there. Beijing also aims to extend its reach across the wider world. As Hudson’s own Dr. Michael Pillsbury has said, “China has opposed the actions and goals of the U.S. government. Indeed, China is building its own relationships with America’s allies and enemies that contradict any peaceful or productive intentions of Beijing.”

China uses so-called “debt diplomacy” to expand its influence.Today, that country is offering hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure loans to governments from Asia to Africa to Europe to even Latin America. Yet the terms of those loans are opaque at best, and the benefits flow overwhelmingly to Beijing.

Just ask Sri Lanka, which took on massive debt to let Chinese state companies build a port with questionable commercial value. Two years ago, that country could no longer afford its payments – so Beijing pressured Sri Lanka to deliver the new port directly into Chinese hands. It may soon become a forward military base for China’s growing blue-water navy.

Within our own hemisphere, Beijing has extended a lifeline to the corrupt and incompetent Maduro regime in Venezuela, pledging $5 billion in questionable loans that can be repaid with oil. China is also that country’s single largest creditor, saddling the Venezuelan people with more than $50 billion in debt. Beijing is also corrupting some nations’ politics by providing direct support to parties and candidates who promise to accommodate China’s strategic objectives…

And since last year, the Chinese Communist Party has convinced 3 Latin American nations to sever ties with Taipeiand recognize Beijing. These actions threaten the stability of the Taiwan Strait – and the United States of America condemns these actions. And while our administration will continue to respect our One China Policy, as reflected in the three joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, America will always believe Taiwan’s embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people.

These are only a few of the ways that China has sought to advance its strategic interests across the world, with growing intensity and sophistication. Yet previous administrations all but ignored China’s actions – and in many cases, they abetted them. But those days are over.

Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States of America has been defending our interests with renewed American strength…

We’ve been making the strongest military in the history of the world stronger still. Earlier this year, the President signed into law the largest increase in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan – $716 billion to extend our military dominance in every domain.

We’re modernizing our nuclear arsenal, we’re fielding and developing new cutting-edge fighters and bombers, we’re building a new generation of aircraft carriers and warships, and we’re investing as never before in our Armed Forces. This includes initiating the process to establish the United States Space Force to ensure our continued dominance in space, and authorizing increased capability in the cyber world to build deterrence against our adversaries.

And at President Trump’s direction, we’re also implementing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods, with the highest tariffs specifically targeting the advanced industries that Beijing is trying to capture and control. And the President has also made clear that we’ll levy even more tariffs, with the possibility of substantially more than doubling that number, unless a fair and reciprocal deal is made.

Our actions have had a major impact. China’s largest stock exchange fell by 25% in the first 9 months of this year, in large part because our administration has stood up to Beijing’s trade practices.

As President Trump has made clear, we don’t want China’s markets to suffer. In fact, we want them to thrive. But the United States wants Beijing to pursue trade policies that are free, fair, and reciprocal.

Sadly, China’s rulers have refused to take that path – so far. The American people deserve to know that, in response to the strong stand that President Trump has taken, Beijing is pursuing a comprehensive and coordinated campaign to undermine support for the President, our agenda, and our nation’s most cherished ideals.

I want to tell you today what we know about China’s actions – some of which we’ve gleaned from intelligence assessments, some of which are publicly available. But all of which is fact.

As I said before, Beijing is employing a whole-of-government approach to advance its influence and benefit its interests. It’s employing this power in more proactive and coercive ways to interfere in the domestic policies and politics of the United States.

The Chinese Communist Party is rewarding or coercing American businesses, movie studios, universities, think tanks, scholars, journalists, and local, state, and federal officials.

Worst of all, China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections, and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential elections…

To put it bluntly, President Trump’s leadership is working; and China wants a different American President.

China is meddling in America’s democracy. As President Trump said just last week, we have “found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 [midterm] election[s].”

Our intelligence community says that “China is targeting U.S. state and local governments and officials to exploit any divisions between federal and local levels on policy. It’s using wedge issues, like trade tariffs, to advance Beijing’s political influence.”

In June, Beijing circulated a sensitive document, entitled “Propaganda and Censorship Notice,” that laid out its strategy. It states that China must “strike accurately and carefully, splitting apart different domestic groups” in the United States.

To that end, Beijing has mobilized covert actors, front groups, and propaganda outlets to shift Americans’ perception of Chinese policies. As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country.

Senior Chinese officials have also tried to influence business leaders to condemn our trade actions, leveraging their desire to maintain their operations in China. In one recent example, they threatened to deny a business license for a major U.S. corporation if it refused to speak out against our administration’s policies.

And when it comes to influencing the midterms, you need only look at Beijing’s tariffs in response to ours. They specifically targeted industries and states that would play an important role in the 2018 election. By one estimate, more than 80% of U.S. counties targeted by China voted for President Trump in 2016; now China wants to turn these voters against our administration.

And China is also directly appealing to the American voter. Last week, the Chinese government paid to have a multipage supplement inserted into the Des Moines Register – the paper of record in the home state of our Ambassador to China, and a pivotal state in 2018. The supplement, designed to look like news articles, cast our trade policies as reckless and harmful to Iowans.

Fortunately, Americans aren’t buying it. For example: American farmers are standing with this President and are seeing real results from the strong stands that he’s taken, including this week’s U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, where we’ve substantially opened North American markets to U.S. products – a great win for American farmers and manufacturers.

But China’s actions aren’t focused solely on influencing our policies and politics. Beijing is also taking steps to exploit its economic leverage, and the allure of China’s large domestic market, to advance its influence over American corporations.

Beijing now requires American joint ventures that operate in China to establish “party organizations” within their company, giving the Communist Party a voice – and perhaps a veto – in hiring and investment decisions.

Chinese authorities have also threatened U.S. companies that depict Taiwan as a distinct geographic entity, or that stray from Chinese policy on Tibet. Beijing compelled Delta Airlines to publicly apologize for not calling Taiwan a “province of China” on its website. It also pressured Marriott to fire a U.S. employee who liked a tweet about Tibet.

Beijing routinely demands that Hollywood portray China in a strictly positive light, and it punishes studios and producers that don’t. Beijing’s censors are quick to edit or outlaw movies that criticize China, even in minor ways. “World War Z” had to cut the script’s mention of a virus originating in China. “Red Dawn” was digitally edited to make the villains North Korean, not Chinese.

Beyond business, the Chinese Communist Party is spending billions of dollars on propaganda outlets in the United States, as well as other countries.

China Radio International now broadcasts Beijing-friendly programming on over 30 U.S. outlets, many in major American cities. The China Global Television Network reaches more than 75 million Americans – and it gets its marching orders directly from its Communist Party masters. As China’s top leader put it during a visit to the network’s headquarters, “The media run by the Party and the government are propaganda fronts and must have the Party as their surname.”

That’s why, last month, the Department of Justice ordered that network to register as a foreign agent.

The Communist Party has also threatened and detained the Chinese family members of American journalists who pry too deep. And it has blocked the websites of U.S. media organizations and made it harder for our journalists to get visas. This happened after the New York Times published investigative reports about the wealth of some of China’s leaders.

But the media isn’t the only place where the Chinese Communist Party seeks to foster a culture of censorship. The same is true of academia.

Look no further than the Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, of which there are more than 150 branches across American campuses. These groups help organize social events for some of the more than 430,000 Chinese nationals studying in the United States; they also alert Chinese consulates and embassies when Chinese students, and American schools, stray from the Communist Party line.

At the University of Maryland, a Chinese student recently spoke at her graduation ceremony of what she called the “fresh air of free speech” in America. The Communist Party’s official newspaper swiftly chastised her, she became the victim of a firestorm of criticism on China’s tightly-controlled social media,and her family back home was harassed. As for the university itself, its exchange program with China – one of the nation’s most extensive – suddenly turned from a flood to a trickle.

China exerts academic pressure in other ways, too. Beijing provides generous funding to universities, think tanks, and scholars, with the understanding that they will avoid ideas that the Communist Party finds dangerous or offensive. China experts in particular know that their visas will be delayed or denied if their research contradicts Beijing’s talking points.

And even scholars and groups who avoid Chinese funding are targeted by that country, as the Hudson Institute found out firsthand. After you offered to host a speaker Beijing didn’t like, your website suffered a major cyber-attack, originating from Shanghai. You know better than most that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to undermine academic freedom and the freedom of speech in America today.

These and other actions, taken as a whole, constitute an intensifying effort to shift American public opinion and public policy away from the America First leadership of President Donald Trump. But our message to China’s rulers is this: This President will not back down – and the American people will not be swayed. We will continue to stand strong for our security and our economy, even as we hope for improved relations with Beijing.

Our administration will continue to act decisively to protect American interests, American jobs, and American security.

As we rebuild our military, we will continue to assert American interests across the Indo-Pacific.

As we respond to China’s trade practices, we will continue to demand an economic relationship with China that is free and fair and reciprocal, demanding that Beijing break down its trade barriers, fulfill its trade obligations, and fully open its economy, just as we have opened ours.

We will continue to take action until Beijing ends the theft of American intellectual property, and stops the predatory practice of forced technology transfer…

And to advance our vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, we’re building new and stronger bonds with nations that share our values, across the region – from India to Samoa. Our relationships will flow from a spirit of respect, built on partnership, not domination.

We’re forging new trade deals, on a bilateral basis, just as last week, President Trump signed an improved trade deal with South Korea, and we will soon begin negotiating a historic bilateral free-trade deal with Japan.

And we’re streamlining international development and finance programs, giving foreign nations a just and transparent alternative to China’s debt-trap diplomacy. To that end, President Trump will sign the BUILD Act into law in the days ahead.

And next month, it will be my privilege to represent the United States in Singapore and Papua New Guinea, at ASEAN and APEC. There, we will unveil new measures and programs to support a free and open Indo-Pacific – and on behalf of the President, I will deliver the message that America’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific has never been stronger.

To protect our interests here at home, we’ve strengthened CFIUS – the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – heightening our scrutiny of Chinese investment in America, to protect our national security from Beijing’s predatory actions.

And when it comes to Beijing’s malign influence and interference in American politics and policy, we will continue to expose it, no matter the form it takes. And we will work with leaders at every level of society to defend our national interests and most cherished ideals. The American people will play the decisive role – and in fact, they already are…

As we gather here, a new consensus is rising across America…

More business leaders are thinking beyond the next quarter, and thinking twice before diving into the Chinese market if it means turning over their intellectual property or abetting Beijing’s oppression. But more must follow suit. For example, Google should immediately end development of the “Dragonfly” app that will strengthen Communist Party censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers…

More journalists are reporting the truth without fear or favor, and digging deep to find where China is interfering in our society, and why – and we hope that more American, and global, news organizations will join in this effort.

More scholars are speaking out forcefully and defending academic freedom, and more universities and think tanks are mustering the courage to turn away Beijing’s easy money, recognizing that every dollar comes with a corresponding demand. We’re confident that more will join their ranks.

And across the nation, the American people are growing in vigilance, with a newfound appreciation for our administration’s actions to re-set America’s economic and strategic relationship with China, to finally put America First.

And under President Trump’s leadership, America will stay the course. China should know that the American people and their elected representatives in both parties are resolved.

As our National Security Strategy states: “Competition does not always mean hostility.” As President Trump has made clear, we want a constructive relationship with Beijing, where our prosperity and security grow together, not apart. While Beijing has been moving further away from this vision, China’s rulers can still change course, and return to the spirit of “reform and opening” and greater freedom. The American people want nothing more; the Chinese people deserve nothing less.

The great Chinese story-teller Lu Xun often lamented that his country “has either looked down at foreigners as brutes, or up to them as saints, but never as equals.” Today, America is reaching out our hand to China; we hope that Beijing will soon reach back – with deeds, not words, and with renewed respect for America. But we will not relent until our relationship with China is grounded in fairness, reciprocity, and respect for sovereignty.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that tells us that “men see only the present, but heaven sees the future.” As we go forward, let us pursue a future of peace and prosperity with resolve and faith…

Faith in President Trump’s leadership, and the relationship that he has forged with China’s president…

Faith in the enduring friendship between the American people and the Chinese people…

Faith that heaven sees the future – and by God’s grace, America and China will meet that future together.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Source: Vice President Mike Pence’s Remarks on the Administration’s Policy Towards China October 4 Event