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<\/span><\/div>\nMike Pompeo delivers Major Foreign Policy Address\u00a0<\/b>on U.S.-China Relations at the Nixon Library<\/b><\/p>\n
The Secretary of State of the United States Michael R. Pompeo visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Birthplace on July 23, 2020 to deliver a major policy address on U.S. \u2013 China relations only steps away from the home in which President Nixon was born, and the flower-ringed site where he and First Lady Pat Nixon are laid to rest.<\/p>\n
Entitled \u201cCommunist China and the Free World\u2019s Future,\u201d the speech was \u2013according to the State Department\u2014one of the most significant foreign policy announcements of the Trump administration to date.<\/p>\n
Immediately following his 24 minute speech, Secretary Pompeo participated in a conversation onstage with Hugh Hewitt, the President and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation.<\/p>\n
The humble white farmhouse that was the birthplace and childhood home of President Nixon served as the backdrop for the speech. The symbolism shone through; Richard Nixon was the first American president to visit the People\u2019s Republic of China, and he devised a strategic framework that guided U.S.-China relations for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n
The Secretary said that President Nixon \u201cdid what he believed was best for the American people at the time, and he may well have been right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a brilliant student of China, a fierce cold warrior, and a tremendous admirer of the Chinese people, just as I think we all are. He deserves enormous credit for realizing that China was too important to be ignored, even when the nation was weakened because of its own self-inflicted communist brutality.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1967, in a very famous\u00a0<\/i>Foreign Affairs\u00a0article, Nixon explained his future strategy. Here\u2019s what he said: He said, \u2018Taking the long view, we simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside of the family of nations\u2026The world cannot be safe until China changes. Thus, our aim \u2013 to the extent we can, we must influence events. Our goal should be to induce change.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think that\u2019s the key phrase from the entire article: \u2018to induce change.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cSo, with that historic trip to Beijing, President Nixon kicked off our engagement strategy. He nobly sought a freer and safer world, and he hoped that the Chinese Communist Party would return that commitment.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
But, Secretary Pompeo argued that the CCP since 1972 has engaged in widespread human rights violations, theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, and failed to adequately prevent or contain the coronavirus. He used the Nixon Library\u2019s podium to call for free nations of the world to demand change from the CCP.<\/p>\n