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Foreign Policy Update

CHINA

In a recent interview Secretary of State Michael Pompeo predicted that TikTok will no longer be providing private information on American citizens to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He added that he hopes the CCP “will conclude that you can’t keep stealing American property, can’t keep destroying American jobs.” Previous Administrations have failed to tackle the China problem and hold the CCP and China accountable for its actions, he said.  At this point, he added, China has “shown no evidence of the central understanding that if you want to be a world power, if you want to participate on the global stage, you can’t engage in the kind of predatory economic activities that the Chinese Communist Party has been in engaged in for far too long, and we’re not going to let it happen on our watch.” The US Government has not gone after Chinese companies because they were successful but, instead, took action if they were CCP entities in order to protect the American people.  

Pompeo added that “ If the Trump administration has four more years, the Chinese Communist Party should begin to behave like a normal nation with respect to their economic activity around the world.  They should allow the United States to invest in China on the same terms that Chinese companies can invest in the United States.  They should conduct trade relationships in a way that are fair and reciprocal.  They should put tariffs on that are balanced and even.  They shouldn’t steal our stuff, jobs, from places like my home in Kansas, where manufacturers invent things, create things, patent things, and then the Chinese Communist Party just rips them off and then turns around and sells them back to us in a subsidized way.  

IRAN

The United States is initiating the restoration of virtually all UN sanctions on Iran lifted under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, according to Pompeo. He said this process will lead to those sanctions coming back into effect 30 days from today and added that “Our message is very, very simple: the United States will never allow the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to freely buy and sell planes, tanks, missiles, and other kinds of conventional weapons. These UN sanctions will continue the arms embargo.”

Iran currently is refusing to allow the IAEA to inspect sites suspected of undeclared nuclear activity, that were formerly part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. After criticizing European nations for their inaction, he praised the Gulf Cooperation Council nations for showing “courage and unity in warning about the danger from Iran.” Pompeo said that two weeks ago, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates sent a letter to the Security Council urging a renewal of the arms embargo before it expired in October. Iran is a nation that can’t be trusted, he pointed out, and one that should not be sold arms.

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IRAQ

The State Department Spokesperson called out Iraq saying the United State is “outraged by the targeted assassinations of civil society activists and attacks on protesters in Basrah and Baghdad.  It is unconscionable that the perpetrators of these horrible acts continue to act with impunity. Since October of last year, peaceful demonstrators have taken to the streets to urge government reform.  They have been met with threats and brutal violence.  Many have been gunned down.” The US strongly supports the right of Iraqis to assemble peacefully and express themselves. The Trump Administration has urged the Government of Iraq to take immediate steps to hold accountable the militias, thugs, and criminal gangs attacking Iraqis exercising their right to peaceful protest.

LEBANON

Due to the devastating explosion in Beirut on August 4, the US Government has donated over $18 million in emergency relief assistance. This has been between the U.S. CENTCOM, which responded immediately with assistance packages that went to the Lebanese army, and then subsequent USAID support. US Acting Administrator Barsa announced that when he was in Beirut a couple days ago the US ensured that the aid is going to America’s NGO partners, not government officials in Lebanon. The explosion has greatly impacted the people on a wide scale, with over 6,000 injured. Estimates to date indicate there over 300,000 in the country who have been left homeless in the aftermath of the explosion.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay