Pompeo: I Think China Poses ‘The Most Serious Threat’

During an interview with Hugh Hewitt broadcast on MSNBC on Saturday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated he thinks China poses “the most serious threat, and frankly, an opportunity for America if we can get it right.”

Hewitt asked, “Is it time to reorient to our near-peer or peer competitor being Russia — or then the Soviet Union to the PRC now? Are they number one in our competitive environment?”

Pompeo answered, “I think they do pose the most serious threat, and frankly, an opportunity for America if we can get it right. If you compare and contrast the two, as between — not the Soviet Union, but Russia and China, we’ve got one that has wealth and resources, and the other that is a power that is struggling mightily. We need to make sure we understand what China’s doing. The president’s been very clear about the risk to America associated with their willingness to steal our property, our intellectual property and otherwise. Eyes wide open with respect to Russia’s efforts in the South China Sea and around the world to build out a much bigger, stronger, tougher country. There’s things we clearly need to do alongside them, and where we have shared interests, but where we don’t, we need to make sure America’s properly positioned to speak to them about each of our two country’s respective roles within the world.”

Pompeo added, “China will have an important role to play as we work our way through the challenging issue of denuclearizing North Korea.”

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