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Mike Pence Delivers His First Address Since The End Of His Vice Presidency
COLUMBIA, SC - APRIL 29: Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to a crowd during an event sponsored by the Palmetto Family organization on April 29, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. The address was his first since the end of his vice presidency.
In his first address since leaving office, former US Vice President Mike Pence encouraged President Joe Biden to keep up the pressure on China, criticizing the Democratic government for "already rolling over" for Beijing.
Pence asked Biden on Wednesday to delist Chinese companies that violate US accounting rules, strengthen the readiness of America's navy to preserve freedom of passage in the Indo-Pacific area, and insist that China come open about the coronavirus' origins, among other things.
"China may not yet be an evil empire, but it is trying hard to become one," he said, adding that the Chinese leadership regards America as an opponent and poses the biggest danger to American wealth, security, and values.
Pence says Biden should follow Trump's approach to China
Speaking at an event, Mike Pence urged that the Biden administration builds on the tough approach taken by the Trump administration in the area. Pence, who led the White House coronavirus task group, blasted China for its lack of transparency in the outbreak's origins, claiming data clearly implies the coronavirus leaked out of a Chinese laboratory.
He also attacked the Biden administration's early moves, such as rejoining the World Health Organization and withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, both of which the Trump administration had criticized for favoring China and withdrew from. Per Big News Network, Pence urged the United States to stop financing Chinese research facilities with public and private funds, warning that doing so would make America complicit in any human rights violations perpetrated with American-funded technologies.
The former vice president also advocated for a more active separation of US economic interests from Chinese industry, saying that failing to do so will result in a greater reliance on Chinese goods. He also advised Biden to seek a trade agreement with Taiwan, whose status is a subject of contention between the United States and China. Pence underlined the importance of a strong Navy in the Indo-Pacific area to counter Chinese aggression.
Though Pence commended Trump in 2018 for establishing a good personal connection with China's president, which he claimed might lead to a thaw in U.S.-China ties, he was a leader in the Trump administration's attempts to depict China as a pernicious danger. Pence blasted China on Wednesday as a greater threat than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War, as well as American business executives who, he said, preach social justice at home but don't criticize China while profiting from slavery overseas.
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Former VP slams China over COVID-19 origin probe
Pence urged Congress and Biden to eliminate all agriculture subsidies for foreign-owned land, limit Chinese investment in key infrastructure, and prohibit Chinese nationals from working for American technological businesses. The former vice president also appeared to target the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility at the core of the COVID-19 origin investigation, which had previously received money from the National Institutes of Health via the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance.
While some hoped that a change in administration would help to alleviate tensions between Beijing and Washington, the Biden administration has failed to do so, as per USA Today. A public spat erupted during the first high-level meeting between the US and Chinese officials in March, and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's foreign affairs chief, criticized American democracy in a lengthy lecture.
According to Pence, China's "brazenly hostile tone" during the meeting demonstrated China's perceived weakness in the Biden administration. China's growing desire to dominate Hong Kong and Taiwan has sparked international alarm.
China should not claim control of resources in the South China Sea, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The US would have to meet its "mutual defense responsibilities" if China attacked Philippine civilian boats, planes, or armed forces in the South China Sea, Blinken said. Along with reaffirming America's support for the people of Taiwan and Hong Kong, Pence stated that China must understand the "western hemisphere is off-limits," Newsweek via MSN reported.
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