CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Interview
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Good to see you, Jim.
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Well, it is crossing a red line. And China needs to realize that if they want to be the world's superpower they claim to want to be, they want to supplant the U.S., then they have to respect the rule of law, or nobody will respect them and their own laws. So they're on the wrong side of history here, if they ally themselves with Vladimir Putin, a war criminal, and his illegal war. But I think what they're going to find, if they do that, is that the Western alliance stands strong.
We stand strong together, just as we have to oppose Russia in Ukraine, quite successfully, I would add, and that doesn't bode well for Xi Jinping's ambitions in Taiwan. If he solidifies the Western alliance the same way that Vladimir Putin has solidified NATO over his invasion of Ukraine, then it's going to be a lot harder for Xi Jinping to achieve his territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
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I mean, look, I'm not entirely surprised. The Chinese have mishandled COVID at every step of the way by trying to sweep it under the rug. Trying to try a strategy of zero COVID that utterly failed. And tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Chinese are dead as a result of the mismanagement of this pandemic by the Chinese Communist Party.
So for it to come out that the whole thing started because of mismanagement, I mean, look, we need to see whether this is true, but if it is, I don't find it surprising at all.
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Well, Jim, this has been the story from day one of this war, where military experts have advocated for more weapons, more quickly. Oftentimes, I've been with the military experts on this. The Biden administration's role and specifically the president has been to walk this line between, you know, getting Ukraine what they need to win without provoking a larger war directly with Russia.
And I think that's exactly what the president is doing today. Now will he change his mind down the road? He's changed his mind about a number of systems before. He wasn't planning to give tanks to the Ukrainians. We're now sending tanks. So I wouldn't be surprised if this changes down the road.
But right now, he's sending a signal to Russia that he's conscious of the fact that he does not want this to escalate into a larger conflict directly between NATO and Russia. And it's good for Russia to see that. It's good for Russia to see that we're giving them a lot of arms. That Ukraine is doing very well with those arms, but we're conscious about these decisions and we're willing to draw a line.
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I think it's a great --
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That's right. No, I think it's a great question, Jim, because that's absolutely one of the options that the administration has on the table. And it's very relevant today, right? Today, they're saying, no F-16s. If tomorrow, China decides to send arms, we can connect those decisions very closely and say, look, you crossed the line. We're going get F-16s to the Ukrainians. And I think F-16s are going to be a lot more effective than whatever weapons the Chinese can send.
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Look, of course it's concerning. Iran is a total rogue nation. I mean, they're essentially a criminal nation when it comes to their foreign policy. And it's no surprise that they're in league with Vladimir Putin, a war criminal himself, who's desperate for help in this war. I mean, he's had to go to the lowest common denominator to try to find support.
And Iran and China are essentially trying to bail out a war criminal who's losing his war. It doesn't look good on anybody.
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Good to see you, Jim.
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