China

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, a brief word on China. I have spent the better part of the last two decades encouraging administrations to be tougher on China, which has risen to challenge the United States economically, not through fair trade and fair competition but by shielding its market from U.S. competition, flouting international trade rules against dumping currency manipulation, relentlessly stealing our intellectual property and know-how. China has not played by the rules. They are the outlaw of trade, and they have cost the United States millions of jobs and probably trillions, if not hundreds of billions, of dollars.

The recent arrest of the CFO of Huawei, a tech giant in China with close ties to its government and military, is a reminder of the predatory and rapacious behavior of Chinese companies. Huawei is charged by U.S. officials with intentionally violating U.S. sanctions with Iran.

Beyond these specific charges, however, Huawei has raised serious concerns among U.S. officials for a potential role in cyber espionage, given their reported links to China's state security services, and now news reports have confirmed that the massive cyber attack on the Marriott hotel chain a few weeks ago was conducted by none other than Chinese intelligence.

This administration has been tougher on China than previous administrations. They deserve credit for that, but this administration has also shown an eagerness to quickly bargain away tough enforcement of Chinese abuses for mild and sometimes meaningless concessions so President Trump can get a quick news hit, particularly on a bad day. That is what happened with ZTE. No one wants to see a repeat of that movie.

We had ZTE dead to rights. They were hurting America, and President Trump, at the last minute--still unexplained--let them off the hook. I hope that doesn't happen again because this administration has set us up for a potential victory for the first time--better than Bush's administration, better than Obama's administration--against China rapaciousness.

I am urging the President to be tough on Huawei and direct U.S. officials to prosecute these charges and have the Huawei CFO stand on trial in the United States, as she deserves.

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