Discussion on US-China Relations and Trade

We should treat them as a potential adversary, not as an adversary.

I'm ashamed and embarrassed and sad and depressed.

We are so reliant on them for certain of these other things.

We have some time to fix that.

Not forever.

I'd give it, I'd put it in a couple of years category.

And we have to do it.

We have to make sure we have the military that can handle China, whatever you mean by

that, because there are all these, as you all read about, you know, new ways of fighting

and drones and speed and hypersonic missiles and all that.

And we should engage.

So, you know, I go to China, I was in China like two weeks ago, and they know exactly

what I think.

You know, they respect that.

I'm a patriot.

They're patriots for their own country.

So this is us protecting ourselves.

And then the other biggest issue you know about is the trade side.

The trade side is a little more complex, because they are the largest trading partner to almost

every single nation on the planet.

And I think that is roughly true.

And they also, like when you travel around the world and I go to all these places, you

know, Peru.

Okay.

Well, they were there right before me.

They bought the power plant.

They bought the, they're building the railroad that takes something out of Brazil.

They bought, they built the port.

And a lot of their investment, Belt and Road, doesn't show up as FDI, foreign direct investment.

It shows up, and it's coming through the Netherlands or Cayman Islands or something like that.

It shows up as a loan.

But it's effective control of these assets.

And you read about the ports in Panama.

That's a Hong Kong company.

So we should be a little more strategic, a little more thoughtful in how we communicate.

I think we need to maintain that umbrella that made the world safe.

You know, I think the president was right to say NATO wasn't doing its fair share as

a fair partner.

But other than that, we should belong.

That umbrella helped the whole world stay safe, and it helped even our, even our adversaries,

or non-allies, like fundamentally not, like India, and it helped China.

And you know, and if you go around the world and they can't rely on that, it's a whole

different thing.

But on the economic side is they actually need our help.

And so if you look at their relationship, they kind of go country by country.

They, you know, they use a lot of unfair trade.

And it's tariffs, cheap energy, barriers, regulatory, loan subsidies, land subsidies,

government purchasing.