- Title: U.S. will act to deny China access to Americans' data, says Pompeo
- Date: 8th July 2020
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JULY 8, 2020) (STATE TV) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "Beijing said that for 50 years they'd give the people of Hong Kong "a high degree of autonomy." And you all have seen what's happened after only 23 years -- empty promises made to the people of Hong Kong and to the world. I want to give kudos to Google, Facebook, and Twitter for refusing to surrender user data to the Hong Kong government -- other companies should follow them and do the same. And a shoutout to our Canadian friends as well. Canada has been strong in its response to Beijing's crackdown. We think that's the right course for the entire world to take." WIDE OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "With respect to TikTok, I want to put it in the broader context. We have been engaged in a constant evaluation about ensuring that we protect the privacy of American citizens and their information as it transits, so this doesn't relate to any one particular business or company but rather to American national security, and we are striving to get that right. The comments that I made about a particular company earlier this week fall in the context of us evaluating the threat from the Chinese Communist Party." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "We are now evaluating each instance where we believe that U.S. citizens' data that they have on their phones or in their system or in their health care records -- we want to make sure that the Chinese Communist Party doesn't have a way to easily access that. And so what you'll see the administration do is take actions that preserve and protect that information and deny the Chinese Communist Party access to the private information that belongs to Americans." WIDE OF JOURNALISTS AT BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "To the Middle East: On Monday, Iraq tragically lost a patriot, prominent scholar, and journalist when Hisham al-Hashimi was brutally assassinated in front of his home in Baghdad. Dr. Hashimi had devoted his life to a free and sovereign Iraq, and gave voice to the aspirations of the Iraqi people. In the days leading up to his death, he was repeatedly threatened by Iran-backed armed groups. And the United States joins partner nations in strongly condemning his assassination, and call for the Government of Iraq to bring to justice the perpetrators of this terrible crime and bring them swiftly to justice." WIDE OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "On June 28th, U.S. and partner forces interdicted a vessel off the coast of Yemen with illicit cargo including 200 RPGs, more than 1,700 AK rifles, 21 --21 surface-to-air and land-attack missiles, several anti-tank missiles, and other advanced weapons and missiles. The Security Council must extend the arms embargo on Iran to prevent further conflict in the region. No serious person can possibly believe Iran would use any weapon it receives for peaceful ends." WIDE OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "We will work with Congress with respect to the appropriated funds. We'll get it right. But the President has made very clear we are not going to underwrite an organization that has historically been incompetent and not performed its fundamental function. There's a real focus on the failures that took place around Wuhan and the World Health Organization's fundamental inability to perform its basic core mission of preventing a global pandemic spread. But don't forget the history. This is an institution that got it wrong on SARS, it got it wrong on Ebola." JOURNALIST AT BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "As for when we can get travel back open between our two countries, the relationship with Brazil's no different than any other country. We are putting in place a set of metrics that will determine when it's appropriate and safe for the American people to allow travel to come from other countries. We'll evaluate each country separately." WIDE OF JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "The Chinese took incredibly aggressive action. The Indians have done their best to respond to that. I'd put this in the context of General Secretary Xi Jinping and his behavior throughout the region, and indeed, throughout the world. It's -- I don't think it's possible to look at that particular instance of Chinese Communist Party aggression in isolation. I think you need to put it in the larger context. When I was up here once before, we talked about the number of both maritime and boundary disputes that the Chinese Communist Party has engaged in. I think it's unequaled anyplace else in the world. There aren't many neighbors that could satisfactorily say that they know where their sovereignty ends and that the Chinese Communist Party will respect that sovereignty." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMEPO SAYING: "This increasing revisionist effort that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in is something that President Trump has taken incredibly seriously. The United States hadn't done that in previous administrations. We will respond to this in a way that we think is appropriate, and we have attempted to communicate to the Chinese leadership that we are serious about this. When I say "we," it's not just the United States. We will start very shortly a dialogue with our EU friends on how we collectively can respond to this challenge from the Chinese Communist Party." POMPEO LEAVING THE ROOM
- Embargoed: 22nd July 2020 19:40
- Keywords: Brazil China India Pompeo WHO
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001CLYAB0N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Trump administration will take steps to ensure the Chinese government does not gain any access to the private information of American citizens through telecommunications and social media, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday (July 8), when asked if the U.S. was planning to ban Chinese-owned app TikTok.
Pompeo also praised U.S. technology giants Google, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. for 'refusing to surrender' user data to the Hong Kong government and urged other companies to follow suit, after China's establishment of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous city.
Speaking two days after he said Washington was "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, Pompeo said the U.S. evaluation was not focused on a particular company but that it was a matter of national security.
"The comments that I made about a particular company earlier this week fall in the context of us evaluating the threat from the Chinese Communist Party," Pompeo said. He added that Washington was working to ensure that Beijing does not gain access to any private data or health records of Americans.
"So what you'll see the administration do is take actions that preserve and protect that information and deny the Chinese Communist Party access to private information that belongs to Americans," he said.
In his wide-ranging news conference, Pompeo also accused China of taking "incredibly aggressive action" in a recent clash with India over a disputed section of the nuclear-armed neighbors' border, saying Beijing had a pattern of instigating territorial disputes.
On the night of June 15, Chinese forces and Indian troops fought for hours with rods and clubs, a dramatic escalation that left 20 Indian soldiers killed, with some falling to their deaths in the freezing waters of the Galwan river in the western Himalayas.
"The Chinese took incredibly aggressive action. The Indians have done their best to respond to that," Pompeo said in a news conference at the State Department. "I'd put this in the context of General Secretary Xi Jinping and his behavior throughout the region, and indeed, throughout the world."
His comments reflect the deep running tensions between Washington and Beijing, which have been at loggerheads over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, China's actions in the former British colony of Hong Kong and a nearly two-year trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
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