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▶ 0:16:24oh I'm sorry for break almost breaking that gav can we close that door please the committee on Foreign Affairs will come to order the purpose of this hearing is to evaluate the last four years of the Biden administration's policy towards East Asia and the Pacific address its successes and failures and identify opportunities for
▶ 0:16:55the Trump Administration to strengthen our engagement in the region so let me now recognize myself for an statement again welcome to East Asia and the Pacific subcommittee's hearing entitled missed Milestones evaluating the last four years in the EAP region and unseized opportunities under President Trump as we convene for the first hearing of the 119 Congress our subcommittee must reflect
▶ 0:17:25on the past four years under the Biden Harris first we must ask the tough questions that will help us chart the course forward and ensure that we address the Region's challenges head-on including where do we go wrong on China policy why have we failed to enact punitive measures against the Chinese Communist party when it was clearly warranted do we effectively leverage our allies and partnership to raise
▶ 0:17:55greater awareness regarding Regional issues have we successfully deterred China and North Korea from advancing their dangerous agendas have our economic engagement goals been aligned with the demands and needs of our partners while the Biden Harris administration's strategy toward China has been shortsighted in many ways one thing has remained consistent across administrations to engage effectively in the region we must show up
▶ 0:18:25and work with our allies and partners take for example the US relationship with South Korea and Japan these two Nations have put the put aside their long-standing and unresolved historical disputes to tackle shared Regional threats including Kim jong-un's nuclear Ambitions and shiin Ping's military and economic coion this is a perfect illustration of how collaboration despite differences is not only possible
▶ 0:18:57necessary and why progress has been made this Administration has tremendous opportunity to strengthen trilateral ties no matter the changes in domestic policies our engagement with South Korea and Japan as well as with quad and asan partners must remain steadfast the threats posed by the CCP and North Korean regime are not going away neither should our commitment to these vital alliances
▶ 0:19:28second we cannot allow the global economy to yield to the CCP standards nor can we lose the confidence of our allies and partners in American strength in my travels ac across the East Asia and the Pacific region the message was clear and consistent that the United States is the partner of choice but without substantial economic incentives our allies and friends are being forced into deeper trade dependency on
▶ 0:19:58China CH and to accept beijing's artificially cheap investment that always comes with a price the previous administration's Indo Pacific economic framework has the potential to provide a path forward to economically engage with these nations our subcommittee now has jurisdiction over the development Finance corporations and we'll use every tool at our disposal to ensure the US remains an active
▶ 0:20:28and committed economic partner in the EAP region third we must continue our work on human rights we cannot ignore the ongoing human rights abuses in Shin Jang where shiin ping directs the imprisonment of wiger Muslims and Tibetans to erase their culture and identity the ccp's transnational repression tactics have also spilled across borders with the regime's united front work department harassing
▶ 0:20:58and intimidating pro-democracy activists right here on the US soil meanwhile Kim jongan continues to steal from his own people subjecting them to torture Force labor and conduct unlawful and extrajudicial killings across southeast Asia independent journalists and civilians face charges simply for exercising their right of Free Press and assembly America
▶ 0:21:29is safer and more prosperous when we put us priorities first our allies and partners are better off when we show up for good with that I'm proud to have these Witnesses before us today there insights will help us shape policies that will strengthen our position in the East Asia and the Pacific region and Advance our national interest thank you uh let me now recognize the ranking member the gentleman from California
▶ 0:21:59Mr armi Bara for your opening statement thank you chairwoman Kim um thank you chairwoman Kim we've been Partners in this region for quite a while we've had a chance to travel together and you I agree with um your opening statements you know there's progress that's been made but obviously there's progress that that we can make go going forward that really shouldn't be a partisan issue you know certainly within Congress many of these issues are nonpartisan and we can look at the quad
▶ 0:22:29Coalition you know the the first Trump Administration you know they set some of those baselines the Biden Administration elevated to the leaders level you know very early in this Administration um right after the swearing in you know you had a ministerial and I think that's something that we can build on that partnership between the United States Japan Australia India is vitally important to not just the geopolitical um security for the region but also from an economic perspective you know bringing India into the fold
▶ 0:23:00we've had a tra the chance to travel to Japan and Korea multiple times and you know the trilateral relationship is in a much better place than it was you know four or eight years ago we've got to continue to keep that in intact um regardless of politics um in the region you know certainly the bilateral Japan Korea relationship is in a strong place and we've got to build off of that and you know we have a responsibility as members of Congress to to you know continue that but also
▶ 0:23:30support the administration in maintaining a strong um trilateral you we look at you know in you know 2019 when I traveled to to the Philippines you know that relationship was in a very bad place you know Philippines was headed um in the direction of of China now under the the Marcus Administration you know getting the enhanced defense cooperation agreement in place I think there's a real opportunity with the Trump Administration again to to build on that the Philippines are right back in
▶ 0:24:00our fold to have um Regular rotations and perhaps um return to permanent basing and and and so forth there I think that's a nonpartisan issue that's something we can work on you know I I'm just returning from Australia New Zealand in the region and Aus pillar one is going very well you know I've looked at the words of secretary heg and and others you I think there's a strong foundation and support for for Aus let's get pillar two going and again this is a good deal for the United States it not only establishes
▶ 0:24:31a presence um works with one of our 5i allies the fact that Beijing is upset about Aus means we're probably doing the right thing so let's keep doing it let's build off of that and again this will allow us to maintain Naval superiority in the region um at a time when we're watching very provocative actions you know around Northern Australia between Australia and New Zealand from the Chinese we've got a sense a strong message that that is not okay in the
▶ 0:25:0121st century because that is how accidents happen that is how Wars get started and again the behavior that we see around there or what we see in the South China Sea and I know you've had a chance to to to to see firsthand some of what's happening around in the Philippines again we as the United States with our allies have to send a strong message that that's not okay now you know if it had been up to me we would have passed TPP a long time ago obviously we find ourselves in a very different place
▶ 0:25:32um one area where I didn't see as much progress with the Biden Administration was around trade even dig digital trade and we have agreements that we we can build off of I think it is important for us to set the Contour of what trade looks like you I don't think it's going to be joining cptpp but you know can we do digital trade can we um get some progress here even in a bilateral way I think that would be important and again I think we as members of Congress on the subcommittee can can work in in that
▶ 0:26:02area one area that we were a little bit late to the game but you know we did see the Biden Administration reestablish embassies in the Solomon Islands Tonga vanatu um we saw important Aid and development programs going there and you know it's it's important for us to continue to support those Investments that are not big dollar items but you when you talk about the people we are the partners of choice to the United States but we have to be there we have to show up
▶ 0:26:32because if we're not you know the um the PRC can show up with bags of cash and demonstrate influence in ways that we don't do business so working with our allies in Australia New Zealand the Japanese are showing a increased interest in the region those are all things that are nonpartisan those are all things that I hope to be able to work with the Trump Administration on and certainly with you madam chairwoman that I think we can work on legislation that keeps moving those relationships forward and with that I'll yield back thank you ranking
▶ 0:27:02member and I love the uh the tone of bipartisanship uh especially when it comes to EAP Pacific Island region and uh I cannot uh emphasize enough how important it is for us to show up and engage with our uh AP region so thank you for that I look forward to contining to work with you on this committee and Beyond other members of the committee are reminded that opening statements may be submitted for the record and we're pleased to have distinguished panel
▶ 0:27:32of witnesses before us today on this important topic so let me introduce our distinguished panel Mr Jack Cooper senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute uh Craig Singleton China program senior director and Senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies and Richard Fontaine the chief executive officer at the center for New American Security uh the chair recognizes the importance of the issues before us and is grateful to
▶ 0:28:03have you speak with us and uh look forward to uh hearing your testimonies and uh you know answering our questions your full statements will be made part of the record and I'll ask each of you to keep your remarks or spoken remarks uh to five minutes or under in order to allow time for member questions uh I now recognize Mr Cooper for your opening statement thank you chairwoman cim ranking member Bara and distinguished members of the committee it's an honor
▶ 0:28:33to be here today and I especially appreciate the bipartisan nature of your leadership on Asia issues uh despite changes in rhetoric recent us strategy in Asia has been remarkably consistent across administrations from both parties in short the United States has made progress with those countries that are most concerned about Chinese Behavior I would focus here on Japan the Philippines India Australia and South Korea the same countries that both of you mentioned in your opening
▶ 0:29:03remarks but we have struggled elsewhere in the region particularly with countries across most of Southeast Asia and they've been disappointed by uneven us engagement and inconsistent economic Visions these structural constraints I think are likely to continue over the next few years and in my written testimony I uh assessed the lasting impact of five different Biden and Administration initiatives on Asia the first was continued cooperation with the quad the second AAS
▶ 0:29:34security partnership the third was the indopacific economic framework the fourth was deepening uh of the alliance with the Philippines and last us Japan South Korea trilateral cooperation and I think we can say that the Biden Administration made real progress in many of these areas uh but that we do have to rethink our approach to the region uh because much of the rest of the region is Untouched by the efforts that we've made over the last decade or so
▶ 0:30:04and so with these lessons in mind I want to propose what I think are potentially five Big Ideas that the Trump Administration and the Congress could take up over the next few years so the first is a uh establishment of an Allied defense Arsenal effort a major new defense industry partnership with allies taking the lead on Military co-development and co-production of precision Munitions and autonomous systems the second I talk about in my written testimony is
▶ 0:30:34creation of an Allied energy initiative to boost us energy production and exports to allies in Asia who are desperate for more reliable sources of oil and natural gas the third is formation of what I would call a Taiwan contact group alongside us allies to provide Taiwan with the capabilities needed to bolster its military defenses and societ resilience in advance of a conflict the fourth proposal is a trade deal with the Philippines
▶ 0:31:05to maintain our recent Alliance momentum and avoid China being able to use its economic influence with Manila to undermine an absolutely critical strategic relationship for the United States and the fifth proposal I would put on the table is that the Trump Administration should make a big bet on Indonesia akin to its efforts with India the reason is that Indonesia a as many of you know well is a rising giant it could act as a counterweight in Southeast Asia against China's Regional influence
▶ 0:31:35and I think it warns much more attention from American policy makers so those are five opportunities I think the the Trump Administration has I want to recently speak or quickly speak about five risks that I think are are serious as well first Washington will need to avoid seeding a sphere of influence to China by better coordinating with its allies and partners while finding ways to stay engaged on the principles and the priorities that matter to countries Asia second
▶ 0:32:06threats to withdrawal support from Taiwan could further undermine the support of the Taiwanese public and their confidence in the United States and that is particularly true in my view if it's coupled with a US draw down from parts of Europe third the danger of South Korean nuclear proliferation is real and I think it is growing it is accelerated by concerns about the risk of Us South Korea Alliance decoupling and that will require new engagement from policy makers here in
▶ 0:32:36Washington fourth uh as you know uh Aus remains a bold and important idea but I think we should be assessing the role that large undersea unmanned Vehicles can play in bridging some of the capability gaps that are arising uh as we think about Aus over the next couple decades fifth American policy makers will have to to reconsider their approach to Southeast Asia particularly on trade and development lest China continue to make significant progress across the
▶ 0:33:06region so in conclusion the United States remains vital to security and prosperity across the indopacific I thank this committee for its remarkable bipartisan leadership on these issues over many years and I look forward to your questions thank you Mr Cooper let me now recognize Mr Singleton for your testimony thank you chairwoman Kim ranking member Bara and members of the distinguished subcommittee thanks for inviting me today I'm pleased to offer policy insights from the foundation for defense of democracies a nonpartisan Research
▶ 0:33:36Institute where I serve as a senior fellow over the last four years the Biden Administration sought to stabilize relations with Beijing through sustained diplomatic dialogue and relatively restrained responses to Myriad Chinese provocations on paper this approach aimed to avoid a bilateral breakdown in practice however it did amount to diplomacy without much deterrence emboldening Chinese Communist Party chairman XI jingping to test our resolve at nearly every turn indeed rather than reducing tensions
▶ 0:34:07these well-intentioned diplomatic overtures paradoxically fueled she's worst impulses enabling Beijing to expand its surveillance ramp up its Maritime assertiveness and deepen its ties to other authoritarian regimes at next to no cost during Biden's tenure Chinese spy balloons entered us airspace with little consequence while hacking campaigns salt Vault and flax typhoon targeted senior American officials and sensitive networks with barely a public rebuke even as Beijing
▶ 0:34:37dramatically intensified its incursions around Taiwan and in the South China Sea Washington's Focus remained on rapid deescalation if left unchecked this Dynamic risks encouraging Chinese overreach raising the Spectre of miscalculation or Worse War today's predicament evokes lessons from the late stages of the Cold War when Washington's misguided Embrace of so-called peaceful coexistence inadvertently prolonged the Soviet system's survival treating it as an immutable Juggernaut rather than one
▶ 0:35:07vulnerable to sustained external and internal pressure by minimizing accountability for Chinese Espionage coersion and violations of international Norms we risk reinforcing beijing's conviction that its revanchist Ambitions need not be curbed a new Trump Administration and the 119th Congress can move Beyond mere coexistence with China if for no other reason that the US and China embody fundamentally incompatible systems and ideologies simply put today's contest cannot end in
▶ 0:35:37stalemate the United States must ensure its model prevails moving beyond mere coexistence a bold yet realistic aim does not require an explicit bid for regime change rather Washington should push Beijing onto an unsustainable path where credible deterrence targeted economic pressure and principal diplomacy exposed the structural flaws of she's Marxist framework by holding out the prospect of genuine concessions on issues like trade we can force Beijing to
▶ 0:36:07confront the spiraling costs of continued hostility potentially hastening the ccp's own unraveling if it refuses to alter course ultimately time is on our side if we choose to make it so Chief among the measures Congress should consider are robust outbound investment screening and bands accompanied with enhanced equity export controls and targeted sanctions to deny she access to both US capital markets and critical Technologies for military civil Fusion credible
▶ 0:36:37proactive threats of punitive action if China crosses red lines over Taiwan or in the South China Sea reinforce that brinksmanship will be met with real enforcement meanwhile Washington must support baguer democracies on the front lines of Chinese coercion HVAC can Champion streamlined foreign military sales and leverage presidential draw down authorities for Taiwan ensuring Swift Delivery of defensive systems and asymmetric capabilities without bureaucratic delay a leaner meanor more focused foreign assistance
▶ 0:37:07regime centered around strategic infrastructure digital governance and anti-corruption programming would also deny China a foothold in critical ports curb risky 5G networks and strengthen partners' resilience to Chinese coercion by demonstrating that America remains both principled and reliable we fill Aid gaps that b aing might exploit finally by insisting that allies including Taiwan invest more in their own security the US can spread the financial load while preserving its leadership
▶ 0:37:38role this flexible transactional approach aligns with the president's America First ethos it rewards Partners who step up while denying Beijing easy wins rather than striving for a fragile equilibrium in the Indo Pacific Washington must create an overwhelming deterrent that renders any attempt at forcible reunification or broader Regional domination prohibitively costly no such deterrent exists today by shifting from passive coexistence to purposeful competition on America's terms we can challenge
▶ 0:38:08the illusion of stability that is embold in Beijing this decisive posture rooted in assertive reprisal rather than reflexive deescalation May pave the way for a new era of enduring leadership in the indopacific and Beyond on behalf of the foundation for defense of democracies I thank you again for inviting me to testify today recognize Mr fontain for your opening statement chairwoman Kim ranking member barah distinguished members of the subcommittee and staff thank you for having me here today
▶ 0:38:39from the outset the previous administration identified China as its top priority and the indopacific as the region most deserving of its greatest attention it had a number of notable successes but it also left key opportunities unseized and so the Trump Administration along with Congress can and should build on the foundation laid over the past four years in the Diplomatic sphere the Biden Administration elevated the quad to the leaders level coordinated ambitious effort to supply covid-19 vaccines to Southeast
▶ 0:39:09Asia it demonstrated greater American engagement with the Pacific Islands including a summit with leaders in Washington new diplomatic outposts as representative barer said uh renewing the compacts of free association President Biden hosted the azion leaders at the White House as well stepped up high level diplomacy with what is perhaps the Indo Pacific's most contested region all these were positive diplomatic steps the administration also made significant moves on Military posture including winning base access for US troops
▶ 0:39:40in the Philippines securing an access arrangement with Papa New Guinea of course it Formed Aus the defense technology sharing agreement with Australia and the UK revised us Force posture in Japan agreed on defense industrial based cooperation uh with India again all positive signs but for all that the net deployment of US military resources in Asia has been essentially flat for over a decade even as China has made increases in virtually every area and so writing
▶ 0:40:10the military balance in the Western Pacific and ensuring deterrence made key challenges for the new Administration the Biden Administration also refocused some of its economic efforts on the Indo Pacific but away from trade agreements and toward defensive measures like export control on semiconductors outbound investment reviews restricting Chinese electric vehicles and so forth It's one attempt at an affirmative trade policy was the indopacific economic framework uh agreement ipf
▶ 0:40:40which uh the chairwoman mentioned but this was a set of agreements that rather conspicuously lacked any Market access in the United States and didn't need to be improved by Congress and so it was very limited and what it could actually put on the table in terms of uh what countries in the region are looking for most from the us and the US economy this recent pity of positive economic moves in Asia represents another opportunity should the administration choose to seize it so the Biden administration's made some significant
▶ 0:41:11strides in the indopacific over the past four years even while of course it was dealing with acute crisis in Europe and in the Middle East but given China's increasing military strength its diplomatic ambition its technological advances there remains a long way to go the Trump Administration and Congress should pursue several opportunities first they should Elevate Regional diplomacy the Trump administration's first meeting with the quad foreign ministers took place on only I believe their second day in office this was
▶ 0:41:41a good step and it's already been followed with extensive diplomacy with regional leaders but there are questions of course that are swirling about the president's Regional priorities enthusiasm for tariffs Pursuit a positive ties with Russia and more so high level and sustained indopacific diplomacy will be at a premium in all of the formats available including the US Japan uh South Korea trial at the triat with Japan and the Philippines the quad and of course Congress has an important role to play here with the
▶ 0:42:11codels and the visits both the Washington and other places um the new Administration also should pursue a positive economic Vision uh I think uh there's wide agreement that the United States should continue to reduce its economic dependence on China in areas that incur National Security risk there's less agreement but I think there should be on the corresponding uh lesson here which is you trade less with China in sensitive areas and you trade more with your friends and allies and
▶ 0:42:41there are the possibility of sectoral agreements like digital trade or on critical minerals it would set rules reduce dependencies on China and Signal renewed US economic leadership the United States on the military side can't arrest the eroding B of power in the Indo Pacific and meet our critical commitments elsewhere without a major increase in defense spending and at the same time moving some of our military resources from the Middle East and Europe to Asia especially in light of the prospects for peace in 2025
▶ 0:43:12in each of those two regions and then finally it would be uh wise to avoid some unforced errors the new Administration obviously is moving quickly to differentiate itself from its predecessor including on Asia policy but shouldn't shoot itself in the foot by eliminating programs that have helped the US bolster friends in the Indo Pacific and contest Chinese influence whether that's foreign aid or some of the other arrangements that are currently under question so by avoiding own goals by pursuing the many opportunities before it
▶ 0:43:42the new Administration and the US Congress have a significant potential to bolster America's position in the world's most important region thank you thank you uh for your wonderful testimonies uh your opening statements give us a lot of fful thought and much of which we agree on uh we all talked about how it is important for us to show up uh to the region uh to build that stronger relationship with our allies and partners and also me some of you also
▶ 0:44:12mentioned the uh our ability to keep up with our defense capabilities so I want to start my questioning on that note um allies like Korea and Japan they have taken steps to assist the US defense industrial base and Korea's hanwa systems is acquiring uh Philly shipyards to bring ship building experience to America and Japan has already uh committed trillion dollars1 trillion dollars I wish
▶ 0:44:42it was more uh an investment to assist the US with emerging Technologies and our partners are also looking to co-produce and co-develop with the United States so we need to ensure that these collaborations align with our security interest and Industrial capacity without compromising our American innovation or competitiveness so the first question I think I want to Mr Singleton is not listening so let me wake you
▶ 0:45:12up uh what steps uh can the Trump Administration take to strengthen our defense industrial base while also working with our allies and partners on National Security priorities and technological and economic advancements put you on this wide awake um it's amazing that we are talking about enhancements to our defense industrial Base today because we're actually thinking about Investments that are going to be really coming into a play tomorrow time is the enemy here I
▶ 0:45:42think I think this Administration has real opportunities when we're thinking about incentivization and also deregulation but where we are seeing gaps quite clearly are expanding uh mineral stock piles that we will need for tomorrow to actually feed and drive these industries we actually don't have a skilled Talent Workforce yet for these critical Industries in the defense sector so starting to think about actual concrete programs that we can put into place through legislation to build up our Tech Talent Workforce will be absolutely
▶ 0:46:13vital I think and Zach hit on this as well trusted defense Supply chains is probably the future and I think it East Asia will play an anchor role in that structure co-development with with India for example on fighter jets Japan the Glide phase um Interceptor to go after inter Hypersonic missiles these are all new and amazing opportunities that I don't think we would have been talking about a few years ago ultimately a lot of that will be Advanced through memorandums
▶ 0:46:43of oral commitment um memorandums of understanding and just simple cleared engagement throughout the region and so I think there's no shortage of opportunity here as we think about these defense uh Supply chains and it was actually secretary Austin and I think who really laid the groundwork for this last summer and this is an area where this Administration can really proceed thank you thank you um on the economic engagement uh Mr Cooper our aan partners continue to request Market access and we talked about that uh ipap is
▶ 0:47:13good it's a good starting point but as you noted uh we don't have Market access there so Market access uh to the United States is what our asan partners are asking but trade appetite in Washington is severely limited uh so in your testimony you mentioned that Trump Administration is unlikely to embrace IPA so what alternative strategies can the administration pursue to maintain the US economic influence in the region without sitting grounds to
▶ 0:47:44Beijing thanks chairman Kim I I think the only answer then for the Trump team is to think about bilateral Arrangements since that's very clearly their preference that are strategic nature and absolutely critical to the United States and so that's why for me focusing on the Philippines initially is probably the most critical Factor uh you know that of course we've got this lose on economic Corridor which we are trying to do with Manila and if that doesn't
▶ 0:48:14go forward it will call into question our ability to use Philippine bases and other facilities in the event of a crisis or conflict and so I think we're going to have to connect our economic interests with our strategic interest to make that logical chain clear for both this Administration and of course for the Congress as well thank you um Mr Fon do you want to chime in on that uh since ipaf does not provide uh Market access how can we incentivize more American companies uh private
▶ 0:48:45sector engagements in the region know we talked about that a little bit but China yeah I think it's worth uh pointing out that in the first Administration the administration did reach a digital trade deal with Japan and used the digital trade chapter from usmca there and also had kind of a mini deal on agriculture so it is just not completely beyond the realm of of imagination to think that over the next four years uh there are bilateral uh deals particularly in sectoral
▶ 0:49:15uh areas you know that could be reached on digital trade which could be done bilaterally or multilaterally uh which would be more about setting the rules uh than even Market access or some Market access things in again on relatively non-controversial areas like critical minerals and and things like that I mean ambitiously um you know if the US gets back in the business of you know free trade agreements which admittedly is a little hard to think about right now I mean we could have an FTA with the Philippines we
▶ 0:49:45could have an FTA with Taiwan I mean the the centerpiece of you know the ill- fated TPP was essentially a US Japan Free Trade Agreement um and so you know if we could politically get back to those areas the sky is kind of the limit for what would be possible on policy grounds thank you very very much uh let me now recognize ranking member Bara for five minutes of questioning thank you madam chairwoman um I'm always going to be The Optimist and yeah I think we can always increase our economic ties
▶ 0:50:15um but in the short term I think there are some things that we can build off of you know Mr Fontaine you touched on the importance of critical minerals and you know some of the rare Earths that where we're we are overly reliant on a single Source in this case um Beijing and we know that how they use economic coercion we've seen a taste of it um but it could get worse if there is a real escalation in Conflict um the Biden administration had put in the mineral security partnership
▶ 0:50:45you we've engaged in conversations with our allies in Japan and and Korea and this is not an area where we're necessarily in competition because we all need these supplies and I'd be curious um you know from a congressional perspective and then you know working with the administration if we can work with our allies obviously the Australians want to develop this industry maybe a little bit more expensive than China but again for our security concerns it's a way of you know working with Australians Malaysia Vietnam other areas where we strategically could go
▶ 0:51:16go into these areas if you know I think that's the right approach at this point is um going in and developing these new markets and even going into Africa and working in in some of these places and having presence yeah I think that's exactly right and of course on the critical minerals you have both the sourcing and then the processing and so you have to solve both of those otherwise if you're dependent on China for one or the other then you haven't solved your problem but that said there are a number of countries in the Indo Pacific and around the world that both have sources
▶ 0:51:46and some which which be uh the places where processing takes place so the US should be in the business of reducing barriers to that kind of trade in critical minerals and potentially looking to our other tools of Economic Policy you know through the development Finance Corporation or you know some of our a programs and things like that uh in order to incentivize private sector activity in these places so again I think the Mantra should be Yes Trade less with China in areas of National Security concern and trade more
▶ 0:52:16with our friends and allies in those very areas Mr scoper do you want to add I would just add very briefly you know this is an area where I think there are some countries in Southeast Asia that have tremendous capability to help us and help themselves and Indonesia is sort of the the most obvious of those so I think mineral security partnership is the kind of thing that should be able to last through from the Biden Administration to the Trump administration because as Craig was saying it it picks up on a lot of critical items
▶ 0:52:46that they've been worried about for a long time going back to the first Trump term um but I think we've got to figure out which Partners we can work with in Southeast Asia or elsewhere in the region and for me Indonesia would be the logical first partner to think about right let me shift to the Pacific Islands um large um economic zone um big playing field um smaller populations I know I've traveled extensively there I know the chair women's traveling to to the region as well and
▶ 0:53:17you know when I look at recent elections you know I was in the Solomons was in PNG the public seems to still want to move towards the the west and so forth but I really am concerned when it comes time to form a government just beijing's influence and you know we don't have to get into the details of it but things that we're not going to do it's not how we do business but you talked about corruption Mr Cooper when it comes time to form governments the governments are not necessarily moving in our Direction uh and I think we've
▶ 0:53:47got to come up with some tools on how to counter that influence and you know if you want to talk about that Mr Cooper and then if the others want to add something yeah ring member just just a brief remark which is you know I think we've had a number of wakeup calls and every time we say it's a wakeup call and then we don't really wake up you know first was Solomon Islands then we were worried about Vanuatu now it's Cook Islands and every time we say we've woken up and then every time there's another Pacific island that does a deal with China that we didn't see coming I I think the Trump team
▶ 0:54:17should get a lot of credit for in the first term putting a lot of effort into the Pacific Islands right I think we have to make sure that they maintain that Focus now they're a lot of distractions around the world and the Pacific isn't the easiest place to maintain focus and we haven't done that consistently over years so I think we've got to use the cook Island situation now as as another wakeup call to focus our mind having just been in Auckland last week obviously that's of concern um I mean I I think how we may approach it as Congress is
▶ 0:54:47working with Australia um New Zealand and Japan's showing a a increased like how do we share the burden how do we even the French I mean pulling the French in as well I don't Mr Fontaine if and last well you just made the point that I was going to make which is that we've got you know friends in this in this Enterprise so we're not going to do what the Chinese do and engage in you know bribery and stap capture and things like that we're going to have a different model and different approach to engagement it has to be sustained and and it has
▶ 0:55:17to be a long-term effort and ultimately it's uh we don't want to see um China get a foothold uh certainly in security terms in these areas which would constrain uh our own freedom of action and that of our friends and allies so if you start from that point and then look what are the tools that we have available to you know be able to influence and and frankly to help these countries with their own sovereignty so that they're not ultimately undermined by Chinese activity that is something that should appeal uh to these governments over time and in that
▶ 0:55:48we can enlist friends like you know New Zealand and and Australia thank you let me now go to the members questioning session and I'd like to First call upon representative Mand to ask your questions uh thank you chairwoman Kim and I want to express my disapproval of President Biden's absence in the East Asia Summit during his tenure the US relationship with the association of Southeast
▶ 0:56:18Asia Nation uh members is critical for the economic political and the defense of prosperity of in the region the president's participation in these diplomatic channels is essential to ensuring that the US presence in Asia remains constructive visible and Lasting Partnerships such as the AAS Alliance or the quad organization have greatly enhanced the overall security of the Indo Pacific now despite their significance
▶ 0:56:48the United States overemphasis on defensive measures has alienated potential allies and support the East Asia Summit and other ason sponsored discussions are opportunities for the US to cooperate on issues like health care and trade and Disaster Response and even energy yet are the nonparticipation or just vocalizing the sentiment is a missed opportunity that the United States cannot afford
▶ 0:57:19unlike the previous administration president Trump must approach the organization like asion with the same passion as Partnerships and some have even cited president ZZ ping and and President Putin as examples of the absence to defend President Biden's non-attendance but the United States can and must do better for diplomatic efforts we must stop looking at PRC
▶ 0:57:49or Russia as an example and demonstrate that the United States will be a lasting Ally and the absence of our adversaries the United States can assert itself as a preferred partner in the Pacific the United States has recently accomplished significant diplomatic achievements in the indo-pacific such as the US Alliance for international developments disaster teams or P professional development programs in Cambodia nevertheless the United States cannot rest
▶ 0:58:19on its diplomatic Laurels and these relationships need demonstration of our commitment so I implore the Trump Administration to learn from President Biden's mistakes and I ask you um Mr sington you have vast experience and I appreciate that and what actions can the US take to strengthen trust and cooperation with Assan Nations particularly those growing closer to China no thank you sir I mean I think we mentioned it earlier but we have to show up
▶ 0:58:49uh I think our our greatest comparative advantage would be presence persistence and partnership and that's the region isn't opaque they make clear to us directly what they want from us and I think there are transactional opportunities that benefit both sides uh I think talk of Market access talk of economic engagement is the missing link today and most countries in the region are deeply concerned about their Reliance on China for key critical Supply chains uh
▶ 0:59:20they're concerned about uh Chinese companies relocating into their markets and those dependencies and the weaponized interdependence that comes with them is is concerning I think the biggest signal that the president can make though is by simply Outreach having consistent Outreach to countries in the region hosting them here deepening People to People ties showing up president or Chinese leader Xi Jinping does it quite well the Chinese operate a vast diplomatic presence across the region
▶ 0:59:51I think we have real opportunity here to actually show up on the ground and uh demonstrate what we're willing to bring to the table uh thank you and briefly Mr Fontaine you spoke about the coordination the Biden Administration accomplish with Pacific island countries in what areas should the Trump Administration build off these initial success there's several well one is to of course sustain The Diplomatic engagement by having established the embassies in solomans and Vanuatu
▶ 1:00:21and Tonga and you know the the China uh Solomon security uh agreement was as my colleague said a big wakeup call but then we get additional wakeup calls after additional wakeup calls and and so to sustain The Diplomatic engagement there is is is one aspect of all this um I come back just you know on trade I mean these are very small economies and all of this but one of the great uh advantages the United States has is the big economic market and to provide
▶ 1:00:51access to that economic Market particularly for countries who you know is going to be almost error in terms of their economic relationship with us um is is another big Advantage um and then um you know again working with these countries in combination together with Australia New Zealand Japan and other bigger countries including from a little bit further outside in order to demonstrate a vision which is not the US would like to dominate the region instead of China but rather this is about your own independence and
▶ 1:01:21sovereignty and ability to make your own Sovereign decisions and we want to support that as opposed to what China has on offer thank you very much thank you to the panel Madame chair thank you thank you let me now recognize representative Sherman for your five minutes of questioning China's been on the rise ever since uh at the beginning of this Century we gave them permanent most favored nation status I was there at the time and they told us it would increase the trade deficit by a billion they were off
▶ 1:01:51by 4,000% um I would point out that the vast majority of Democrats voted against that action and we did so under pressure from a Democratic president who turned out to be wrong on this one issue and I would hope our Republican colleagues will take note of this perhaps your proudest hour will be an occasion where you say no to a Republican president uh we now have this
▶ 1:02:21enormous trade deficit with China I would point out that it is considerable larger under Trump 1.0 than it was under Biden and that was and that was particularly true in the preco Years uh of the Trump Administration so uh while Trump talks about how other countries are eating our lunch they ate our lunch and our dinner uh under u under the first Trump Administration now one issue we have is Americans investing in Chinese
▶ 1:02:52stocks now China wants to encourage its people to invest in uh uh their in their stock and they provide tax incentives for doing so but they're careful to make sure that no citizen of China gets an incentive a tax credit for investing in American stocks but we have a capital gains allowance where we provide many hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to benefit Americans who invest in Chinese
▶ 1:03:22stocks uh if any of of you think that that's a good idea could you raise your hand I'm not seeing but what's surprising is I only got one Republican co-sponsor for my bill to take away this subsidy for investing in the Chinese economy and I would hope that we do a lot better in this Congress you'll have to stand up to billionaires to do that because billionaires think they should get a tax incentive for everything
▶ 1:03:52even uh being Benedict Arnold when it comes to where they invest their money um I think you you pointed out how some of the small countries in the Pacific are rounding errors when it comes to trade it's even more of a rounding error when it comes to to Aid I believe that the special um the house select committee on uh uh the Chinese Communist Party unanimously and in a bipartisan way called on us to
▶ 1:04:22fully fund usaid Now American soldiers including my father's friends died in the Pacific over the very islands that would be of great strategic importance if God forbid we ever ended up in another war with a major Asian power uh does it ra raise your hand if you think it made any sense for us to stop all Aid to the small islands in the Pacific as we did just a week or two ago
▶ 1:04:52when we froze all USA ID again I'll say that no hands went up um the Solomon Islands where so many Americans marines died we had a $21 million uh economic support arrangement with and we've stopped that and even if we started again we've proven ourselves to be uh un uh unreliable uh a $95,000
▶ 1:05:23aid program to the Cook Islands and we stop that um it's uh it's it's it's tragic um now I'll point out one other thing um we've got China making these debt trap loans where they loan money and there's no way that the project will pay it um should we encourage uh
▶ 1:05:54Nations that are a victim of this to simp simply not pay China back does anybody agree with that or disagree should Sri Lanka be writing giant well so I'll point out that we in effect Force these countries to pay back because we allow our credit rating agencies and our lenders to treat a country as if it's a bad credit risk because they fail to pay China back
▶ 1:06:24I would say that we are to turn to countries and say uh don't give China your Port give them your middle finger and then you'll still be able to borrow from Europe from the United States and from the international uh uh community and with that my time has expired thank you I recognize representative bar for your five minutes of questioning thank you Mr Singleton thank you for recognizing the coins act the outbound uh screening legislation
▶ 1:06:54uh from the last Congress that I worked on um and I do uh I do agree with you that we do need legislation to address Capital flows into China especially to Chinese entities of National Security concern and technologies that threaten our national security as well um last Friday president Trump uh issued an executive order titled America American first investment policy and issued a national security memorandum
▶ 1:07:26um that was in large measure aligned with the principles of the coins act um he said in in conjunction with that release we will adopt new rules to stop us companies from pouring investments into China and stop China from buying up America allowing all of these Investments that serve uh American interests meaning that uh it's exactly the right policy it's the America First policy red light to Investments That compromise our national security but allow those Investments that actually
▶ 1:07:56Advance our interests my question to you is given the fact that the Administration has now issued an executive order uh it replaces the Biden executive order on outbound investment screening is it important that Congress act as well here is it important that Congress passed legislation to provide statutory um um definition to all of this no absolutely and thank you for your leadership on this issue I mean cutting off she's access I would say to
▶ 1:08:26Western capital and technology is like depriving a fire of oxygen I think if we don't the we're sort of very much fueling the system that is seeking to overshadow our own I I was very impressed with the uh the policy release memo last week but it's vital that those protections be codified into law in many respects the the memo released last week goes a little bit farther than coins um by identifying new sectors including biotechnology which I would argue as the next semiconductors
▶ 1:08:57uh where we need to be hyper Vigilant about Capital flows but I think what's what's captured in the coins act uh is exactly the right pitch perfect moment it there's bipartisan consensus uh I know it was a long road to get there um but I think at this point uh it's the best uh hope for right now yeah and thanks Mr Singleton for recognizing that uh the treasury White House release is slightly different than coins and we've actually been reaching out to the administration Act asking for inter agency technical assistance
▶ 1:09:28we want to uh incorporate that into the release of coins uh 2.0 what would you say um though to the the argument that uh and and obviously because of my work on this I support the effort but what would you say to those who make the argument and it's not altogether uh a bad point that under xiin ping China has abandoned the American innovation model uh that uh the Chinese Communist Central planning has
▶ 1:09:58replaced private allocation of capital with state-run investment and because of that between 2018 and 2023 the number of annual startups founded in China has collap has collapsed by over 97% and that chairman she's Crackdown has has really deterred us investment since 19 since 2018 us Venture Capital deals in China have fallen by 87% in other words the market is taking care of this China's economy is collap collapsing China's disadvantage is that they're Communists and so
▶ 1:10:29uh outbound investment is slowing down because it's a bad place to invest do we still need coins do we still need an investment screening tool no absolutely I mean Xi Jinping Is His Own Worst Enemy and his economic stewardship has led uh China to where it is today which is on the point of economic collapse quite frankly I think what what we have to do is protect American Capital American investors and American technology and Institute through law Common Sense guard rails
▶ 1:11:00that ensure that American Capital isn't flowing into the very technological sectors uh that are being used to fuel Chinese military modernization and I think that linkage between the military and the Civil uh particularly as it relates to investment screening and bans is essential uh if for no other reason that just because China's economy is suffering today doesn't mean that they can't recover tomorrow well I agree with you and I agree with President Trump on uh his executive order uh look it's true uh chairman shei has in some regards
▶ 1:11:30made China uninvestable um why on Earth anyone would want to invest in a a communist uh economy where at any moment's notice at the whim of the bureaucrats in in Beijing all of your investment could disappear nevertheless there are capital flows there are Western investors us and otherwise who are uh investing in some of these critical Technologies and so we do need legislation I I appreciate your testimony i y back thank you
▶ 1:12:00I now recognize representative Amo for your five minutes of questioning thank you very much chair woman and it's a pleasure uh to to be on this uh subcommittee and I look forward uh to your leadership and that of the ranking member uh over this Congress uh I know that every member of our subcomittee wants to advance American interests and counter China's influence in East Asia and the Pacific and every member should want to strengthen our supply chains boost economic cooperation and
▶ 1:12:30protect uh our national security and I believe that every member understands the only way to achieve this is by building alliances and Partnerships um as we look at the last four years uh I believe that President Biden understood these points it's why he led a historic effort to establish one of the most significant security uh AR agreements in Generations Australia United Kingdom United States security pact as everyone knows is Aus and uh it's it's important to just
▶ 1:13:01break it down and and share that you know the AAS improves that monitoring and increases deterrence in the indopacific it allows the United States to continue our leadership in emerging defense technology pillar one created a pathway for Australia to acquire nuclear submarines pillar two created deeper cooperation between all uh of the three allies for advanced uh defense capabilities now many businesses in my home state of Rhode Island are working on technology
▶ 1:13:31included in Aus like the Virginia class submarine or they're developing technology for pillar two like uh the next generation of underwater drones and so this agreement promotes National Security and boosts local economies with good paying jobs it strengthens our relationships uh around the world uh Mr Fontaine could you share uh why it's so essential that we continue the work uh of aus and how uh can we work to strengthen cooperation as
▶ 1:14:01uh we move further into pillar two sure thank you Congressman well pillar one I think the case for that is probably straight forward but to increase over some years but nevertheless to increase the number of Allied uh nuclear propelled submarines in the key military theater is a good thing especially given China's increase in capabilities across the board so we want that and of course the Australian participation in pillar one of aus is a significant injection of several
▶ 1:14:32billion dollars into the submarine industrial base in the United States at a moment where we're behind on sub production and so that's a a good outcome as well um on pillar two uh you know that in a way that a lot of the hard work has already been done the Congress uh you know went through the exercise of itar Reform which is always you know throwing sand in the gears of some of these ability uh of countries including some of our closest intelligence and Military Partners to cooperate with us in technology so that part has been done we've taken our lumps from the
▶ 1:15:02French for having you know up you know participated in the subcontract so a lot of the hard work has been done on pillar two I think that the key is to have some quick visible wins because this is a proof of concept right this is not only something that could work for the US the United St the US UK and Australia but if this goes well and we can show that things are possible with pillar two that otherwise wouldn't be then Japan South Korea India other countries can plug in on particular projects in a similar sort of fashion but we haven't seen the quick wins
▶ 1:15:32yet and there's a bunch of potential projects I mean the Australians have uh some unique capabilities on Quantum pnt position navigation and timing you mentioned uh unmanned undersea capabilities um to in in a matter of you know months 12 months 18 months 24 months on the back end not years to show some quick wins on pillar two would give some serious momentums to the to Aus and I think uh demonstrate its utility to everybody and I I greatly appreciate your point of emphasis on
▶ 1:16:02growing Partnerships and and I'm hopeful that you know after the past 36 Days of the Trump Administration that the administration will demonstrate that they value uh these Partnerships that they understand the value uh therein because you know we've seen uh questioning our our transatlantic alliances we've seen foreign aid uh freezes and we want uh to to you know lower the temperature and ensure that our uh friends around the world aren't going to question
▶ 1:16:33our commitment to our values and jeopardizing those would be a problem to proceeding as we should in Aus and so you know it is my hope that uh that we don't have an absence of American leadership because if that is the case China uh will take advantage to fill that vacuum reaching out to our allies and partners being more of a threat uh in in the indopacific and doing uh the the work to really combat our values our sense
▶ 1:17:03of our leadership in the world and and that's a message that I think we can all agree on with that I I yield thank you very much uh let me recognize representative R wagen for your five minutes of questioning talava and good afternoon thank you chairwoman Kim and ranking member Bearer for holding this hearing and thank you to the panel for testifying today as you may be able to
▶ 1:17:33tell how I'm dressed I am a Pacific Islander and represent the beautiful territory of American Samoa the only United States soil south of the Equator so this hearing is especially important to me as we are discussing my home the Pacific I want to highlight some recent developments in the Pacific Islands within the past three weeks both independent Samo and the Cook Islands have signed major uh agreements with China
▶ 1:18:04unfortunately I don't have a map here but independent Samo is my neighbor 60 miles to the West Cook Islands are my neighbor to the east along with kabas my home district is now surrounded on three sides by countries that have signed major economic and security deals with China and since this hearing is on opportunities for the new Administration what are actions that President Trump and secretary Rubio can
▶ 1:18:34do to counteract China in the Pacific Islands and I'd like all three of you to please well we talked earlier about you know potential trade opportunities and things like that um and there's also the aid aspect of this um as we were discussing for the amounts of Aid are relatively small that go into these countries when you look in the grand scheme of the amount of of foreign aid that the United States has provided
▶ 1:19:04to countries all over the world but it makes a big difference there and we frankly are in a competition with China for influence I think what we don't want to see is exactly what you described where we have Sovereign us soil surrounded on three sides by uh countries that wish to be closer to China economically uh and certainly security wise so to use the various Tools in our toolkit on Aid on trade on diplomatic engagement on you know uh uh security support and things like that
▶ 1:19:34um those are the things that can make a difference but again it has to be sustained we have to demonstrate that this is not just a kind of epip phenomenon where we are suddenly interested in the Pacific Islands and we develop some initiatives and then they start to fade in a couple of years we have to sustain these efforts um over a long period of time a congress I I would just add briefly I I think it's absolutely critical that the United States explain not not just to policy makers but also to the American
▶ 1:20:05people why this is in the American interest and you know those of us in the Think Tank Community probably have our work cut out on that issue but I think it's actually pretty clear if you're president Trump and you're looking for areas where a little bit of money goes a long way what better place than the Pacific relatively small populations that are desperate for greater engagement from the United States sometimes they're not even looking for a lot of money right sometimes it may just be a little bit of diplomatic engagement right opening
▶ 1:20:36uh embassies in some places that's relatively cheap and the Strategic logic is extremely clear and anyone that's read their history knows why that's the case so I think the challenge we're going to have is that some of these ongoing programs I I think are probably paused at the moment and so we're going to have to explain both you know to the American people but also to some people within the government why these are so critical and why spending a little bit of money now in these areas is absolutely important in the
▶ 1:21:06long term no I would agree with everything that's been said and just add on that beyond the deal with the Cook Islands we also saw live fire drills around Australia this week um quite alarming demonstrating I think a capability and an intent from the Chinese to project much farther from their Shores I think as it relates specifically to Pacific island countries there are several opportunities one is seabed mineral mining which is an area that's ripe for I think opportunity for the United States uh I think fishery management Maritime transport and security are other areas
▶ 1:21:36that closely align with this Administration and the previous administration even educational exchange climate change uh assistance and support these are all I think basic programs that I think to the points raised are relatively inexpensive but go a long way to deep and deep People to People ties thank you madam chairwoman I yield back the balance of my time thank you I recognize representative Castro for your five minutes of questioning
▶ 1:22:06uh thank you chairwoman uh Mr Fontaine in your testimony you note that in 2022 Nepal accepted a $500 million Grant through the Millennium challenge Corporation to expand its electricity grid and improve infrastructure uh China and their supporters in Nepal fought hard to try to to prevent this they argued that Nepal was making a a mistake in working with the United States and I'm glad that they were unsuccessful in their argument the Trump Administration has abruptly Frozen this assistance
▶ 1:22:36with no transparency many government officials and impal now worry whether they made the right decision in partnering with the United States how do you think Nepal's leaders feel about their decision to make the politically difficult decision to ignore China to bypass China and to work with the United well I suppose they're waiting for the outcome of this review and I hope that that this gets turned back on because this is a this is the reason I mention it in in my testimony if you look at this $500 million MCC compact
▶ 1:23:07with Nepal it took the the it took cman do about five years to actually come to the point where they agreed to do it for exactly the reasons that you said because they were being lobbied by the Chinese not to do it because this is a kind of a declaration of strategic intent that they you know had to think pretty hard about and it's also worth noting that this all took place during the first Trump Administration this is a trump Administration idea to do this with with Nepal and so now that this is Frozen that the Chinese would love to march in and say we will replace the Americans
▶ 1:23:38here and also point out American unreliability if we were able to say once this was going and now this is not it's also worth noting that Nepal agreed to kick in $200 million of its own money toward all of this so it wasn't just us putting in our own oh thank you and I guess well let me ask you um do you have confidence that that Aid will be unfrozen or that that that deal will be unfrozen and bear in mind um the national end Endowment for democracy their funding has been frozen iri is is Frozen ndi is
▶ 1:24:08Frozen that represents along with what usaid represented on the development side a way that the United States engaged the world and also promoted democracy around the world so I would ask the panel having seen what you have seen of the Trump Administration the United States for example just voted with Russia this week uh to prevent um a resolution that essentially would have placed the blame on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine um from what you've seen so far do you have confidence
▶ 1:24:38that these funds will be unfrozen I don't know what's going to happen with the funds but I can point out in addition to the Nepal example I gave how I think some of this uh if not corrected is amounts to shooting ourselves in the foot so if you look at what ndi and iri has been doing they funded for example groups in Bangladesh Burma Nepal and Sri Lanka which have already been approached by the Chinese saying
▶ 1:25:08because the funds have been frozen saying we will replace the American Funds now these are democracy groups so they don't have much interest in taking money from the Chinese in the first place but that's not going to be the case for everybody and so again there's you know the Chinese are sort of ready to do it's created an opportunity for China to come in as we've corre pulled back or receded or you know iri for example provides uh cyber tools for circumvention Technologies and other things allow uh dissidents and and democracy activists in places like China to be able to communicate with each
▶ 1:25:38other away from the watchful eye of the state well that that that's Frozen now and so I I think those are the kinds of things that we would want to have in our Arsenal as we compete with China uh gentlemen you all have and I would just I would just also note real quick but I think what's especially troubling is while These funds are frozen these deals are frozen it's it's not as if there's been some other plan that's been laid out to describe you know what else is going to go on in lie of these things right like you know then you could
▶ 1:26:09have some debate about whether that's better here everything's just Frozen well I think it was uh you know secretary Mattis that said that if if we don't end up spending a little bit of development assistance in places then we end having to use bullets and and that certainly I think would be the concern I'll just say very briefly uh that I think at the end of the day the the Trump Administration I I understand the logic of why they want to cut down on government spending
▶ 1:26:39right but I think the the point that's critical is we've got to do an assessment of each of these projects to see whether it's worthwhile and so doing anything across the board doesn't make sense especially when we can't turn them back on after that and so I worry a huge amount about the damage that that could do over the long term I would add I mean China routinely criticized iri ndi Ned projects and I think uh they claimed that they were we were smearing Beijing I think that is reason enough to keep a lot of them
▶ 1:27:09um but I think a wholesale review is is important uh that should be done expeditiously and I think to the extent possible a lot of these projects should reinstated thank you I you backer thank you I now recognize representative Bix for your five minutes of questioning thank you madam chairwoman and I appreciate our Witnesses today for your testimonies this afternoon as the engine of the global economy East Asia and Pacific
▶ 1:27:40and I'll just say EAP here on out um the Pacific's uh stability is fundamentally linked to our prosperity security martime domain awareness is therefore par Paramount within this vast space demanding a comprehensive approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of security and economic environment so serving on both this subcommittee and the homeland security
▶ 1:28:10transportation and Maritime security subcommittee grants me a unique dual perspective from my vantage point the United States Coast Guard's leadership in enhancing the Region's maritime Dom domain awareness undeniable we see the Coast Guard standing shoulder toosh shoulder with Nations across the EAP region from pooo in the Pacific Islands to Japan in Northeast Asia
▶ 1:28:40in palao this partnership focuses on countering illicit Maritime activities like illegal unreported and unregulated fishing which Safeguard our Vital resources further north the Coast Guard conducts engagement with Japanese counterparts by collaborating on regular Western Pacific exercises and active intelligence sharing that strength that strengthens interoperability
▶ 1:29:11and ultimately contributes to a more transparent and secure Maritime environment across the EAP the Coast Guard embodies this proactive approach not simply reacting to crisis but actively fostering Maritime Safety and Security by assisting nations in incident response providing essential support and building critical Maritime awareness
▶ 1:29:42this vital work takes on even greater significance as Maritime domain awareness becomes a central pillar of the Quad initiative which recognizes that a stable and secure Maritime domain is foundational for regional peace and prosperity this brings me to my first question and I would like to ask each of you um to please respond briefly but what specific role can an increased Coast Guard presence play
▶ 1:30:12Within the quad framework to address the complex and evolving Regional security challenges that we face today I'll go first I mean I think Hing Chinese illegal fishing is one area where the Coast Guard has an important role to play as a force multiplier but frankly as an untapped resource and it's not limited to the EAP region uh there are news reports this week of uh Chinese illegal fishing fleets operating off the coast of Argentina where AR the Argentine military actually had to intervene I think these are
▶ 1:30:42areas where the Coast Guard has tremendous experience and expertise in technology uh and where we can really have value at thank you and I would just add ma'am the it's so critical in many of these countries that you know they don't have the ability to easily cooperate with our Navy our naval ships tend to be much larger and much more capable than their navies are and me much of the time their navies are doing missions that are much more similar to our Coast Guard with vessels that are closer in size to Coast Guard vessels and so often they
▶ 1:31:13actually I think prefer to be able to work with our Coast Guard than sometimes the Navy which is a little bit more challenging for them to deal with in a symmetrical basis so I think there's tremendous interest across acoss the region really not just in the Pacific but the the whole region and having a much greater US Coast Guard presence thank you I guess just violently agreeing with my colleagues I mean the I think the appetite for greater uh Maritime domain awareness by the countries in the region is almost unlimited I mean they don't have the capabilities often to
▶ 1:31:43understand the environment themselves and by plugging into uh activities and uh information gathering uh activities of the United States does especially through the Coast Guard that's a major service that the United States can provide and ultimately is good for us because it's not just about you know fending off China and it's also it's about illegal fishing but it's also piracy and and humanitarian uh response and and natural disasters and things like that if there's an area to do more there's been some activities to the quad and things but you know
▶ 1:32:13the the more of the Southern reaches of the Indian Ocean are particularly not well uh uh defined in terms of Maritime uh domain awareness and so those would be that would be an obvious region in order to uh an obvious region to look for if we wanted to do more thank you my time's upk you uh I recognize representative old shovsky for your five minutes of questioning thank you very much uh Madame chair I'll just Echo the sentiments of my colleagues earlier about
▶ 1:32:43how grateful I am to be serving on the subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific uh it is rewarding and gratifying to see the level of bipartisanship already being displayed both on this side of the de but also some of the UN unanimity um from our Witnesses today so thank you all for taking the time uh to be with us uh look forward to working with you uh chairwoman Kim uh ranking member Bara thank you for leading the way in that work as well um I just want to dive in a little bit I think the stage has sort
▶ 1:33:13of been set um earlier uh I loved Mr Cooper your your comment about what better place than the the pacifics to sort of make these small Investments for big return small amounts of diplomacy for big return uh I I really appreciate you all sharing the concern about damage over the long term I appreciate your cander in the uncertainty as to if or when or which uh pieces of Aid might be restored but that are all also critical um I guess um just taking a slightly different look at it
▶ 1:33:43is can you one or several of you speak briefly to the fact of now that Aid has been stopped um are we seeing and to what degree are we seeing CH step in do you have any specific examples or uh data that you can share in terms of what we're seeing now that that Aid has dried up well I gave a couple before but the on Nepal certainly um the uh potential demise of the MCC compact
▶ 1:34:14with uh the $500 million compact with Nepal gives China an opportunity which it has been uh attempting to make uh political and economic inroads in in Nepal for a long time and then you know the the other specific examples were on you know the uh the freeze in the availability of cyber tools that are provided through iri and in particular to dissidents in places including inside China in able to communicate safely and
▶ 1:34:44securely those are Frozen now that would obviously give the government of China an opportunity and um and in at least my understanding is that partners of both iri and IND in Burma Bangladesh Nepal and Sri Lanka have been already approached by China to say if the Americans won't fund you we will so those are a few uh specific examples can I just add a broad point to build on Richards which is
▶ 1:35:14if you look at polling data across southeast Asia the data has not been great for the United States over the last five years um it showed a decrease confidence in continued American engagement and unfortunately that's true from both of the last two administrations now I think if you overlap that with you know what you're just talking about Congressman that it's just going to accelerate these questions about whether the United States is really a reliable partner and unfortunately that's happening
▶ 1:35:44at a time that China's already making even more inroads and building more influence in parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific and in South Asia and elsewhere so I worry that um this is reinforcing trends that were already occurring in the region and so if we're going to reverse those Trends not only do we have to turn the money back on in most cases we're also going to have to think of new ideas and new proposals to add to that so I I think it's not just a question of stopping the damage we also have to reverse the momentum and and put some ideas
▶ 1:36:15on the table ourselves I would agree wholeheartedly I mean we've seen indications in places like Cambodia as well myar about uh the activation of these programs particularly in the Civil Society and Reporting space journalist space uh I think one thing we've all realized is that uh a lot of Chinese coercion is is quite corrosive on civil society and it's very important that we fund uh free academic journalist exchanges on the ground uh so they can report the situation fairly and accurately and we're not seeding the information
▶ 1:36:45space uh to the Chinese so just fair to say the longer this goes on the harder it's going to be not only to get back to where we were also fair fair to say yeah and I I'll just reaffirm to to my colleagues here uh and to others um I I think many of us are committed to rooting out waste and abuses um that are that are legitimate so to the extent we continue this conversation very much want to be a part of stopping Aid that does not Advance American interest while not having the damage
▶ 1:37:15uh done that we're seeing today so thank you all very much with that Madam Sher yield thank you uh we do have some time so I would like to take the opportunity to go for a second round of uh questioning and the first question I would like to address is the CCP and it's uh IP theft that we're all concerned about um the according to FBI the CCP steals up to $600 billion doll worth of us intellectual property every year uh so we need to use every tool available to stop this
▶ 1:37:45obvious theft and hold the CCP accountable so I would like to first ask Mr Singleton maybe start and then you can all chime in how can the US leverage existing Partnerships that we have in the Indo Pacific uh with our allies and partners so that uh we can create a unified or united front against the ccp's IP theft no absolutely so much of the IP theft that we discuss is occurring in the commercial space but I also focus on the academic space as well uh Congress recently reintroduced
▶ 1:38:16the deterrent act uh which aims to crack down on Chinese attempts to secure intellectual property from our college campus much of which is funded by Congress I think these are basic Common Sense measures that will force universities to reckon with the fact that they're going to have to diligently report um their entanglements with Chinese universities and Chinese companies particularly those CH tied to Chinese civil military Fusion uh I think that's probably uh one key area where partners and allies are on board with rigorous academic partnership
▶ 1:38:46screening it's an area where uh other countries including Canada are actually ahead of us I think we have a lot to learn um but this is an area where I think you're going to see broad agreement and recognition that we have to close those loopholes beyond the corporate IP theft that we see every day thank you just to add to that I a number of years ago had the chance to do a report with the foundation for defense of democracies uh on this very specific issue and one thing that we pointed out in that report is there are a number of products in which the US government has
▶ 1:39:16charged Chinese agents with stealing American Technology and the businesses that were engaged in that stolen um stolen technology are still selling the products back into the United States I solar cells for example in at massive scale and they drove the American Producers out of business in so doing I I don't understand how we can't just turn the spigot off of the ones where we actually indicted people in China working for the government who are stealing this technology and we're
▶ 1:39:46still letting them Drive our companies out of business years later so I think there are areas like that where we just absolutely have to to take action and until we do I don't think that Beijing is going to take us seriously on this issue Please chman Mr FTE well the the China's theft of intellectual property from the United States and other countries as well as described by some as you know one of the greatest wealth transfers in history and I think probably rightly so and when you look at it it it truly is outrageous both in terms of scale and just the substance of
▶ 1:40:16what the Chinese have been doing uh over time with this expensive uh time uh uh you know uh the amount of time that it takes to develop uh technology and intellectual property that have been stolen um and then exploited for economic reasons um including sometimes in our own markets um the only thing that I would add in terms of potential remedies is to the degree to which the intellectual property is stolen or is resident in cyberspace
▶ 1:40:47and through cyberspace I think there's a role for offensive cyber activities in all of this I mean this is somewhat controversial inside uh the government and policymaking circles you have to be careful about these things U but we do have a lot of insights into who some of these actors are how they operate and uh the Cyber tools that they use in order to conduct the theft and we have a lot uh of our own uh that we should be using just to protect ourselves and to exact a a price on those who have uh
▶ 1:41:18engage in these transgressions thank you I would I would like to talk about one other issue uh which is North Korea policy um we need to make some adjustments uh you know and the US need to make some policy changes toward North Korea considering the evolving uh nuclear uh Ambitions in continued uh weapons development and uh I would like to see how you can uh you know tell talk to us about the US taking leverage on existing M uh
▶ 1:41:48minilateral Frameworks to ex uh strengthen the extended deterence and enhance our regional security do you want to go Mr Cooper sure I think this is an incredibly important issue and you know unfortunately I think our approach in recent years is probably best termed strategic patience 2.0 we've just sort of waited and put our attention into other things and the reality is that the problem has gotten worse and so bad in fact that I think the risk is that now our allies in South Korea are actually
▶ 1:42:18fairly serious about developing their own independent nuclear capabilities because they worry about the pathway that North Korea is on so I don't know whether Donald Trump can engage with Kim Jong-un directly and address some of these issues but I think we absolutely have to think about A Renewed campaign to shift the direction because otherwise we're going to end up with an even larger North Korean Arsenal even more missiles and without a strategy to deal with it thank you um ranking member sure I'll just
▶ 1:42:48um make a few closing comments and should have said this off the top um you know I appreciate the bipar of nature of this but to you know our Foreign Service officers folks that are working overseas you I visit with them they're often working in tough um places in refugee camps Etc these are patriotic Americans and I feel for you know what they're going through right now the uncertainty having just traveled abroad having had side conversations with folks these are not
▶ 1:43:18folks that see the world as Democrats or Republicans they see themselves as patriotic Americans and I do want to publicly say thank you for your service and thank you for what you're doing and hang in there you know again we don't want to lose that Talent especially some of the younger folks but also the folks that have made a 30 35 year career out of this these are patriotic Americans um I'm glad to hear in a bipartisan way you know the importance of you know some of these programs and and some of these programs
▶ 1:43:48started in the first Trump Administration so you know you know we had Congressman Yoho um our former colleague here two weeks ago and you know just kind of watched them work the build act with Senator Coons and others um the Trump Administration should be proud about that they should not take that apart as we come up on reauthorizing um the the DFC these are tools that I'd actually like to see US expand they're tools that are good for America they're good for American businesses they're good for our
▶ 1:44:19influence you know in February of 2020 right before the p mic shut things down um let a codell to Sri Lanka and Nepal largely because both of them had MCC compacts that were sitting on the table that we absolutely saw Chinese misinformation like these are grants these are not belt and Road um type of um debt diplomacy these were direct grants now the Roger pox Administration
▶ 1:44:49ultimately turned that down and you know we did see the debt trap that Sri Lanka ended up in and what it did to um its economy you know it did take a lot of work to get um Nepal and and cman do to agree it was a good deal it is still a good deal for them to the nepales hang in there you know we we will do everything we can to to get that that those dollars flowing do not take the you know again look eyes wide open
▶ 1:45:19with how the Chinese do Aid in development and use that trap and you know you can look around the world and see the the the downside and the danger of that um that said I do think with this America First initiative we are going to have to rethink a little bit How We Do Aid development finance and I touched on in my earlier comments how we leverage our Resources with our like-minded like valued allies that have interest in this region and again you know I think that is where we
▶ 1:45:49you know with the European Union with Japan Korea Australia you know even India that has a an older relationship with Africa and Broad diasporas there we ought to be looking for places where we can work and leverage our resources to go further to develop these economies and and go into places like Kenya to to develop things we also should look at programs you know when I've traveled around the Pacific Islands there's a really elegant program called the Pacific island tuna program
▶ 1:46:19that The Nature Conservancy with Walmart using d FC funds and so forth like these are great programs that you know are public private Partnerships and you know help build a resilience of fisheries and and do development projects in some of these Pacific Islands I would urge us as a as a subcommittee to look at how we can support and broaden some of these programs like Pacific island it's not unique to Walmart and we've had those conversations but again it's a really elegant program
▶ 1:46:50that um I you know is really appreciated the Marshall Islands and you know a place like PNG would be the perfect place for us to go and expand a program like that so I look forward to working with um the the Witnesses in your organizations I think it's an incredibly important time you know government efficiency is fine you know looking at programs and how we bring these programs to the 21st century is fine but as we come out of this initial period of disruption you know I think it behooves
▶ 1:47:21all of us as Democrats Republicans you know um academics and and the Think Tank Community to say okay what would the Right Aid and development programs for the 21st century be like what would the right strategy be how do we partner with our allies and others to create that 21st century that we really want to see so it'll be different than the past but what's that future um you know geopolitical um strategy for the 21st century look like so thank you again for being here and again thank you
▶ 1:47:51m Madam sh yes thank you ranking member uh as we close IID like to you know just Echo how important the uh East Asia and the Pacific region is uh for the United States and its role on the world stage uh as we reflect on the last four years and I think we've done that very constructively and productively through our engagements and our dialogue today so I want to thank you again for your insights and uh moving forward I think it is very
▶ 1:48:21very essential that we focus on strengthening our alliances and Partnerships throughout the region and collectively we can combat the uh shared threats from North Korea China and these are the threats that we Face uh today and it's not going away anytime soon so our engagement must remain steadfast regardless of domestic political uh changes and we must also ensure
▶ 1:48:51that our economic strategy aligns with the needs of our partners right it's not something that it's one-sided so we need to really really find ways to work together with our partners and allies and we must offer alternatives to China's state-driven economic model that too many countries have been forced to accept so we need to show up we need to bring alternative uh solutions to them and we cannot allow the global economy to be dictated by Beijing
▶ 1:49:21standards so why why we stay uh resilient and steadfast again we need to be mindful of what our allies and partners needs are uh Washington must use every available tool to advance our economic agenda while uh punishing the ccp's unfair Practices uh finally we talked about human rights in my opening remarks and I don't think we went into that in depth today in our conversation but I truly believe
▶ 1:49:52human rights needs to remain a top priority in our foreign policy and the Chinese Communist part's repression both at home and abroad demands our action our attention and uh we need to be steadfast in that area as well so as we look look ahead uh we already recognize there are several significant opportunities for the US to strengthen its uh influence in the region and to secure a future that reflects
▶ 1:50:22our value and our interest uh so I look forward to working closely together with not only with my colleagues here but uh with uh you know folks like you who are working on the ground and you are experts in the field so we want to stay engaged in our conversation and we want to uh work with you as resource to many of us so uh let's uh work together to ensure that our policies align with our uh with the challenges and opportunities that East Asia
▶ 1:50:52and theic Pacific region faces with that I want to thank you again for us the committee stands
▶ 1:51:51for e