Fox News "The Story with Martha McCallum" - Transcript Interview with Josh Hawley

Interview

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MACCALLUM: Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri joins me now, Senator good to have you with us tonight. I guess my question is big picture, right? Are we going to look back on this data point of the closing of this Embassy and the burning of those documents has sort of a flash point of an escalation that leads to ultimately either a cold war or God forbid, a hard war with China over of course the next several years?

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY, R-MO.: Well part of standing up to China now, Martha, is to prevent a hot war with them that certainly not what we want but we also can't be pushed around. And look we should be clear about the fact that China is an imperial power that they want to extend their power all around the world.

And there is one nation in particular that stands between them and world domination and that is us. We're not going to be pushed around anymore. Today's action with the Consulate I think sends a clear signal to Beijing we're not going to tolerate their spying, we're not going to tolerate their espionage. We're not going to tolerate their breaking of the United States law. We're going to get tough it's about time.

MACCALLUM: All right, they're working on a trade deal with EU. They have one relationship in Latin America and Africa. They're clearly sort of lining themselves up to be the next world dominant power which has been their desire for quite some time. How do we stop that?

HAWLEY: Well, we stop it by doing what we did today, which is to stand up to them when they cheat, when they lie, it's also to expose their lies globally. For instance what they have lied about all the lies they told with COVID-19, trying to blame the origins of the virus on United States soldiers were having sick, total lie.

That's why I've called for an international commission led by the United States to actually get the evidence to make China pay for what they have done to get reparations. But the truth is, Martha that they are on the back put the Chinese government is. You now have our allies waking up to the fact that UK is kicking out.

Huawei the Chinese Telecom companies kicking out of United Kingdom. We've already taken those actions. China is in trouble here and they know that. That is why they are trying to double down. This is a moment where we have got to stand firm and say that we will not be pushed around. We will stand up for our people.

MACCALLUM: Yes, here is the Former Vice President Joe Biden running for President, of course, on this topic, watch this.

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JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look what he's doing now? He's blaming everything on China. He's blaming everything on the Chinese and people don't make mistakes. As you well know from South Korean and someone from Beijing, they make no distinction, it is Asia. That is the way, he is just using it as a wedge, and he's trying to shift the blame.

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MACCALLUM: Your thoughts.

HAWLEY: You know Vice President Biden has long been at China appeaser. He's long been an appeaser of authoritarian to Beijing. Just earlier this year, he was talking about how China didn't pose a real threat to the United States, I mean, oops, that is not exactly the story of 2020.

We have seen this year what a threat China is to the world. So the Vice President, I think, is radically out of touch with reality on this as so many issues. But it is dangerous him being this out of touch on China. We need somebody, we need leadership that's going to stand up and be strong on China, be strong for American workers, be strong for American security.

MACCALLUM: I just want to play this video. This is 2019 drone video that appears to show blindfolded Uighurs being transported according to one report, from one concentration camp to another. And this is an interview that Bill Hemmer did earlier today with the daughter of someone who is being held in one of these camps. This is really scary video. Listen to her.

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JEWHER ILHAM, DAUGHTER OF IMPRISONED UIGHUR: My father is not the only person who is in prison. There are thousands of hundreds of Uighurs just like my father are locked up in a prison or concentration camp.

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MACCALLUM: Her father is a very well-known Economist in China. What do you think when you see that video, and does it change our relationship even more?

HAWLEY: Should change our relationship. It should also inspire us to stand up and hold accountable those American, multinational corporations that have shipped our jobs over to China that are now using these Uighur concentration camps. That is what they are; they are concentration camps using them for cheap labor.

That is one of the reasons Martha, I've launched this campaign called "Slave Free", #SLAVEFREE and I'm challenging all of these American multinationals beginning with the NBA, NIKE and others that make their products in China that use slave labor to pledge that they will be slave free. And I've introduced legislation to make sure it happens.

MACCALLUM: I did read that the NBA is not practicing at one of their training camps in Xingjian anymore, small move but a step in the right direction?

HAWLEY: Well, here is what it would be a real step and would show real progress. Are they willing to actually say that they will not make any NBA apparel in China with forced labor? Are they willing to take the pledge that the league does not rely on slave labor for any of its products? Is Lebron James willing to take the pledge that his NIKE products don't rely on slave labor? That come I think, which showed true progress.

MACCALLUM: It would show that human rights are an issue, a universal issue that hold true. For these individuals who are obviously you know feel very strongly about human rights in this country. Senator Hawley, thank you good to see you tonight.

HAWLEY: Thank you.

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