| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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Congressman Scott Peters and Utah Republican Senator John Curtis come together to address the top issues, including the government shutdown, the future of health care, and America's role on the world stage. | |
| They join host Dasha Burns. | ||
| Ceasefire, Bridging the Divide in American Politics. | ||
| Friday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on C-SPAN. | ||
| Democracy is always an unfinished creation. | ||
| Democracy is worth dying for. | ||
| Democracy belongs to us all. | ||
| We are here in the sanctuary of democracy. | ||
| Great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies. | ||
| American democracy is bigger than any one person. | ||
| Freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected. | ||
|
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We are still at our core a democracy. | |
| This is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom. | ||
| We are joined this morning by Yun Sun, who is the senior fellow and China program director at the Stimson Center, here to talk about President Trump's meeting with the Chinese president earlier in South Korea. | ||
| Yoon Sun, before we talk about the details of this meeting, let's first show our viewers what the president had to say aboard Air Force One earlier after he shook hands with the Chinese president. | ||
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unidentified
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What are the major stumbling blocks that are left now to work through and how soon do you think you could sign a trade deal with China? | |
| Well, I think pretty soon. | ||
| We have not too many major stumbling blocks. | ||
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unidentified
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We were, we have a deal. | |
| Now every year we'll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year. | ||
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unidentified
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We'll negotiate at the end of a year. | |
| But all of the rare earth has been settled and that's for the world. | ||
| I mean, you know, worldwide. | ||
| I guess you could really say this was a worldwide situation, not just a U.S. situation. | ||
|
unidentified
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So we continue to produce the rare earths and buy the rare earths and everything else. | |
| You know, when you see from other countries, but China is that whole situation, that roadblock is gone now. | ||
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unidentified
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There's no roadblock at all on rare earth that will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while. | |
| So we've got a one-year pause on the policy they announced. | ||
| It's a one-year agreement and we'll extend it after a year. | ||
| President Trump aboard Air Force One courtesy of the White House. | ||
| Yoon Sun, respond to the details that you heard there from the president talking to reporters. | ||
| How significant is this? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, this is significant in terms of the two largest economies in the world reaching a temporary, I would say, a trade truce in the escalation of the trade wars that we have seen since the beginning of, well, basically since the beginning of this year. | |
| But for the two presidents to meet and also reach a substantive deal of this scale, I would call this meeting a very, very successful one. | ||
| Why is that? | ||
| What is the significance of the two of them even meeting and doing so in South Korea? | ||
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unidentified
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I think the significance of the two leaders meeting is that, well, when they meet, is seen as an indicator of stabilization, maybe not stability, but at least an effort to stabilize a bilateral relationship. | |
| We know that the U.S. and China had been in this great power competition for a number of years before the second Trump administration. | ||
| And we have seen extreme turbulences between the two countries. | ||
| Some would even call a near war or near conflict state between the two states, which is why this potentially could be the trigger of World War III. | ||
| That's why the meeting between the two leaders as a stabilizing effort of the bilateral relationship is so important. | ||
| And the importance for the world, of course, does not need elaboration. | ||
| Explain further what you mean by a near conflict between these two countries. | ||
|
unidentified
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In terms of the U.S. and China close encounter in the West Pacific, we know that China has always called or regarded Taiwan as a critical issue or the most important of China's national interest. | |
| We also know that U.S. has a legal obligation according to our Taiwan Relations Act to provide for the self-defense of Taiwan. | ||
| The enhancement of cooperation and alignment between U.S. and Taiwan since the first Trump administration has been more than obvious. | ||
| And the Chinese have had major reactions to that, especially in the military domain. | ||
| And that translated to some of the Chinese unsafe, unprofessional maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, vis-à-vis U.S. warplanes and also naval warships. | ||
| So we have seen those incidents where the two sides, meaning the warplanes and their naval vessels, had come so close to each other that it was a near collision situation. | ||
| So if those collisions happened, it would potentially trigger at least a limited scale military conflict. | ||
| You said World War III. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yes, and when there is a military collision between the two, some would say the largest militaries in the world, it could potentially trigger something much bigger. | |
| And also consider the U.S. support of Taiwan and, for example, the visit of Taiwan by the then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August of 2022, the Chinese basically threatened the use of force in that scenario. | ||
| And if the U.S. decided to counter what the Chinese had planned in terms of a temporary and some would say a partial naval embargo of the naval blockade of the Taiwan island, then it would lead the two states into a state of war. | ||
| Back to this deal that was made that the president talked about aboard Air Force One that broiters with the headline, U.S. gets rare earth reprieve from China, but not a rollback. | ||
| What did the U.S. want out of this deal and what did China want? | ||
|
unidentified
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I think for U.S., the goal has been relatively clear. | |
| U.S. wants Chinese purchase of U.S. agricultural products, especially considering the season we're in. | ||
| We're deep into the fall, which means the soybean harvest for American farmers have already come in. | ||
| So far this year, the Chinese have refrained from purchasing U.S. soybeans, which creates a significant burden or a significant threat for the U.S. soybean farmers. | ||
| So I would say the agricultural products is a priority. | ||
| The other top priority for the Trump administration is China's rare earth export. | ||
| And some would say the export control measures that China had announced earlier in October. | ||
| Because for many of the critical industries in the United States, rare earth is indispensable for the smooth operation of their manufacturing, of their business to their normal business operation. | ||
| So for China to impose a rare earth export restriction is unacceptable for U.S. industries and businesses. | ||
| So I would say these are the two U.S. top priorities. | ||
| For the Chinese, the priority is actually quite clear. | ||
| It's also focused on two issues. | ||
| The first one is a tariff. | ||
| Currently, before today's meeting, U.S. basically imposes a 55% tariff on all Chinese export to the United States. | ||
| The Chinese have been desperate to bring that down. | ||
| Maybe not completely, but at least ease some of the tariff measures. | ||
| In particular, we know that the Trump administration has levied a 20% tariff related to China's lack of cooperation on the issue of fentanyl. | ||
| This happened before Liberation Day, before early April. | ||
| So the Chinese position has been we're willing to cooperate on fentanyl. | ||
| We have been cooperating on fentanyl. | ||
| So this 20% fentanyl-related tariff needs to be eased. | ||
| And this is what we have seen out of the result of the meeting. | ||
| The other Chinese concern or their priority going into the meeting is additional U.S. trade measures, including, for example, the 301 investigation, including the port fees, including sporadic restrictions played on specific Chinese companies. | ||
| So these new trade measures have always been a cause of pain for the Chinese government and for the Chinese industry. | ||
| So I would say that's two versus two. | ||
| For U.S. is soybeans and rare earths. | ||
| For China, it's tariff reduction and new U.S. trade measures down the road. | ||
| All right, let's get our viewers involved in the conversation. | ||
| Here's how you can dial in. | ||
| Republicans 202-748-8001. | ||
| Democrats 202-748-8000. | ||
| And Independents 202-748-8002. | ||
| You can text if you don't want to call at 202-748-8003. | ||
| We're taking your questions and your comments about U.S.-China relations and the president's meeting with the Chinese president in South Korea yesterday. | ||
| Ross in Bradford, Pennsylvania, Democratic Caller, Europe first. | ||
| Ross, good morning. | ||
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unidentified
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Yeah, hi. | |
| I'd just like to say that we all need to get along, you know, and I'm glad Trump is over there doing this. | ||
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unidentified
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But I think the Senate needs to keep Trump under control. | |
| In what way, Ross? | ||
| In what way? | ||
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unidentified
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Well, because of the shutdown and all that, everybody's got to give in, you know, give and take a little bit. | |
| But, you know, we just, we can't go on living like this. | ||
| Okay. | ||
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unidentified
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You got Russia and you got Ukraine. | |
| That's terrible. | ||
| All right. | ||
| So Ross, okay, Yun San Ross believes it's a good thing that we're talking to the Chinese leader. | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, it's all relative. | |
| It depends on what the criteria is, right? | ||
| In terms of getting along, yes, I think the meeting is very helpful and very positive in terms of U.S. and China finally getting along. | ||
| And look, U.S. consumers are at the front line of the impact of the trade war. | ||
| When we increase tariff on the Chinese product, well, it increases the cost that U.S. consumers have to pay for the Chinese products, right? | ||
| So there's no doubt that a choose or a ease of the current tariff war is going to be beneficial for the U.S. consumers. | ||
| But I think the critiques will challenge that, well, at what cost? | ||
| Because China's goal to surpass the United States is determined. | ||
| And the more we buy from China, the more dependence we create on the Chinese consumer products. | ||
| And it will fuel the Chinese national growth. | ||
| It will fuel the growth of their military modernization. | ||
| And it will eventually fuel their ability to compete with us as a world number one superpower. | ||
| So there's no one correct answer to this particular question. | ||
| In the short term, I would say that yes, it is a good thing. | ||
| But in the long run, I think it also raises the question, one, does it correct the Chinese unfair trade practice? | ||
| And two, does it, in the long run, put the U.S. at a disadvantage? | ||
| So again, no one straight answer to this. | ||
| Different people have different positions coming from different perspectives. | ||
| Well, who had the upper hand going into the meeting? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, the fact that both sides have something desperately, they want desperately from the other hand, from the other side indicate that this is a match. | |
| That's why they negotiate. | ||
| And that's how the negotiation process has been so strenuous and, well, I would say lengthy between U.S. and China. | ||
| I would say both sides hold some critical leverages over the other, but that means, well, I would say they're pretty even-handed or in terms of their position, they're pretty equal going into the negotiation. | ||
| Has the Trump administration taken a different approach to China than the first time around, in the first four years? | ||
|
unidentified
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Oh, absolutely. | |
| If people recall the narrative of great power competition or China as a pacing threat, it in fact came out of the national security strategy of the first Trump administration in 2018. | ||
| And before that, in the national defense strategy, we were already singling out great powers, especially China and Russia, as the most significant national security challenge for the United States. | ||
| So this time around, for the second Trump administration, two things have been missing from the narrative. | ||
| We have not heard the Trump administration talking about great power competition at all this time around. | ||
| So it raises the question, well, how do we define China now? | ||
| Is it still a pacing threat? | ||
| Is it still the most significant national security challenge? | ||
| Or is it something else? | ||
| Or is like what the president have indicated, we're partners, we're friends, we're getting along. | ||
| The other term that has been missing from the narrative this time around is Indo-Pacific strategy. | ||
| So during the first Trump administration, there was a very clear strategy that we're aligning with countries in the region. | ||
| So Japan, Australia, India, in order to form a broader coalition to manage China or to campaign China's rights. | ||
| But this time around, we have seen, well, basically, a fallout in U.S.-India relations and some of the pretty serious criticism the U.S. has launched against Australia. | ||
| So I would say that the second Trump administration's approach to China so far has been very entirely different from the first Trump administration. | ||
| Frank is in Delaware, Democratic caller. | ||
| Good morning, Frank. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| I'm calling we need to start making products in our country. | ||
| You know, like she was saying, that we buy too much, too many products from China, and it's really helping China become more powerful. | ||
| Well, let's take that point, Frank. | ||
| How much does the United States depend on China, Yin Sun? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, the dependence, well, depending on the industry, if you look at manufacturing good or consumer good, just think about the Christmas trees that we have and that's in the holiday season that's coming up. | |
| Think about the summer entertainment goods that we use, like the, for example, the sun umbrella or our swimming suits. | ||
| Think about the school products that our kids use during the fall season, when the school year is back. | ||
| Almost all these consumer goods are produced in China, which means that when the tariff is up, it means that U.S. consumers will have to pay more because the Chinese are not going to pay for, they're not going to cut their price or their production cost by 55% in order to match the same price. | ||
| Eventually, as U.S. consumers have to carry at least a part of that cost. | ||
| This dependence, however, is, well, you could call this an economic vulnerability. | ||
| Absolutely correct. | ||
| It does boost the Chinese ability to compete with us. | ||
| But here's a question. | ||
| Is it economical for us to make these goods? | ||
| Has the U.S. economy surpassed the stage of manufacturing some of the most basic goods? | ||
| Given the supply chain that has already been in place, let's say, well, just say making shoes. | ||
| Making shoes in China is significantly cheaper, maybe less than 50% of the cost compared to making shoes in the United States, which means that we can still make shoes, but it means that shoes that we make here is going to be much more expensive than what we can currently buy on the market. | ||
| So the answer to the question as well, whether we should make it in the United States, it's not that straightforward. | ||
| Can we do it? | ||
| We can. | ||
| But is it economical? | ||
| Most likely not. | ||
| Are our consumers willing to pay the premium cost in order to make things here in the United States? | ||
| Most likely not. | ||
| So this is in a way a catch-22. | ||
| Let's go to the Senate floor where the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, criticized the president's approach to China trade policy. | ||
| On China, Donald Trump's trade negotiations with China have been a failure. | ||
| His actions have decimated soybean farmers. | ||
| He has hurt small businesses. | ||
| And has he revived any of American manufacturing? | ||
| No. | ||
| China is still floating global markets with subsidized goods, still stealing American technologies to undercut U.S. firms and workers. | ||
| And meanwhile, we have lost tens of thousands of American manufacturing jobs. | ||
| This is Trump's MO in foreign policy. | ||
| He creates a giant mess. | ||
| Then he wants everyone to praise him when he tries to clean it up and ignore the damage that he has inflicted. | ||
| Yun Sen, respond to the leader there, the Democratic leader, and the arguments that they made. | ||
| Are they accurate? | ||
|
unidentified
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I think the criticism of this round of negotiation or meeting is primarily focused on the fact that we have shown China our vulnerability. | |
| We are vulnerable in terms of our rare earth dependence on the Chinese production, and now the Chinese know it. | ||
| And they have been using this weapon quite adeptly against us. | ||
| So you could say that, well, without the triggering or without the escalation of the tariff war, we would not have been here. | ||
| I think that part is true. | ||
| I think on the issue of whether the Chinese unfair trade practices and the loss of American jobs that was created by President Trump, I think the answer is less straightforward because this has been the case for decades. | ||
| And this was also true under the Democratic presidents too. | ||
| So this is not entirely President Trump's policy or his creation. | ||
| But you could say that he didn't fix it. | ||
| Well, at the same time, Democrat president didn't fix it either. | ||
| So this is a long-term challenge that the U.S. needs to counter, and we have to come up with a smart and strategic response to the challenge that China poses. | ||
| However, another interesting train of thought here is we assume, we have the assumption that China is a challenge and China is a competitor that must be out-competed. | ||
| It doesn't seem clear that President Trump adopts this position. | ||
| He said we're going to make America great again, but he has also not mentioned whether this making America great again will have to come at China's expense. | ||
| So I think that is a critical question we're trying to deliberate here. | ||
| So for Trump, making America great again in relation to what? | ||
| Compared to America itself or compared to other competitors such as China and Russia. | ||
| So it's possible that President Trump has an entirely different paradigm. | ||
| He has entirely different criteria coming to evaluate U.S. relationship with China and how to manage that relationship and also what endgame United States should be seeking. | ||
| So with very different goals, I would say the criteria and evaluation and the assessment will be very different too. | ||
| All right, we'll go to Fernando in Galveston, Texas, a Republican. | ||
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unidentified
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Yes, good morning. | |
| Good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
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I just wanted to ask her, what is the actual population in China compared to us here in the U.S.? | |
| The Chinese population is somewhere around 1.4 billion people, and our population is somewhere around 370 million, if I remember correctly. | ||
| So their population is about three to four times bigger ours. | ||
| And Fernando, your point? | ||
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unidentified
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Where do you put all them people at? | |
| All right. | ||
| Well, Yunzan, is there a dynamic there with the growth of China and its impact on its economy and what it means for trading with other countries like the United States? | ||
|
unidentified
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That's a good question. | |
| Well, when you look at such a large population, the first thing that comes to the mind of the Chinese government is jobs. | ||
| Well, you need to give these people jobs. | ||
| You need to keep them employed, which is why the thing for China, the export-oriented economy or the export-oriented industry and employment has been a key priority for the Chinese economy. | ||
| You look at China's economic story, basically, since 1979 when they first started the reform and opening up, it has been a story of inviting in foreign companies to employ Chinese laborers, which is relatively cheaper compared to our labor. | ||
| Think about the shoes and the price of making shoes in China being so much cheaper compared to the United States. | ||
| It's primarily because they have a very large, very, very large labor resource. | ||
| And remember, in China, women also work. | ||
| In the U.S., the employment rate of women, especially women after they get married, is much, much lower than in China. | ||
| In China, more than 75% of their women are actually, meaning that age-appropriate women are in the labor force. | ||
| So with such a large labor force, the Chinese government has very successfully uses this labor force to lay the foundation for China to be the world factory, which is why they have built up this labor-intensive world factory manufacturing businesses, right? | ||
| So coming to the relationship between the Chinese population and the Chinese economy, I would say that is where the Chinese success story has come from. | ||
| The story has been evolving, however. | ||
| With the one-child policy, the Chinese population, the size of the population is actually growing at a much slower space. | ||
| And also with the cost of education, cost of raising child in China growing. | ||
| So more and more families are opting for less of one kid per family. | ||
| So what this means is that we're looking at the Chinese society as an aging society. | ||
| A lot of these previously very active labor force, now they have entered the age of retirement, which means that while the Chinese government has to come up with a way to carry the economy forward with a much smaller labor force, but with also a growing aging society. | ||
| So that's why the Chinese have been aiming for what they call the Media in China 2025 or the upgrade of Chinese economy to focus on the high-tech industry so that China can shift away from the labor-intensive economy to a tech-intensive economy. | ||
| And that's basically China's economic development strategy. | ||
| Gary's in Texas, a Democratic caller. | ||
| Morning, Gary. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hey, good morning. | |
| And, you know, I really kind of want to shed some light on this. | ||
| And I'm going to give it a different spin. | ||
|
unidentified
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But I'm also going to tie into a little immigration as well. | |
| I hope I get a chance to get this out. | ||
| So I'm disagreeing with what the lady is saying here. | ||
| So let's take, I've ordered from Timu, I've ordered from Alibaba, I've ordered from these Chinese oriented companies. | ||
| Generally, the products are horrible. | ||
| They're the wrong sizes. | ||
| The quality is atrocious. | ||
| The United States needs to be more self-sufficient on its own manufacturing. | ||
| I agree with Donald Trump. | ||
| I'm a black American. | ||
| I'm a Democrat. | ||
| I agree with Donald Trump. | ||
| I don't agree with everything he says, but I hope Congress is listening to me right now because I have a business, right? | ||
| And I use a lot of, I stopped using overseas because it was cheaper in the beginning. | ||
| It worked out. | ||
| But the quality is horrible. | ||
| All right, Gary. | ||
| And Gary, let's take your point on that. | ||
| Yun Sun. | ||
|
unidentified
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No, I think that's a fair point. | |
| I also buy things from Tamu. | ||
| I find some of the products to be, well, actually quite horrible, like what you have pointed out. | ||
| However, I will point out that if you buy the same things on Amazon, most of them are also made by Chinese producers. | ||
| So it's not just the Chinese app that has this problem. | ||
| So I'm also curious to find out whether the product that you purchase from Amazon is also of very poor quality. | ||
| I find the Amazon products to be, what I get from Amazon to be of higher quality, but the price is also higher. | ||
| So I've talked to many Chinese manufacturers and factory owners about this particular issue. | ||
| This is not just unique to the United States because the products that China export to Southeast Asia, to Africa, they're also, I think the quality is also pretty atrocious. | ||
| And the Chinese reaction is this. | ||
| Well, it's because they're cheap. | ||
| So with good price comes with better quality. | ||
| But when you want a cheap product, there is no way that we can produce the same quality product with 50% of the cost. | ||
| So it's not that they don't have the ability to make better product. | ||
| I think it's a desire to keep the price low that has also suppressed or made them deliberately depreciate the quality of the product. | ||
| And I absolutely agree with that. | ||
| So eventually it's about what the consumers demand, right? | ||
| If the consumers demand higher quality product, we can also buy the same type of products from, for example, Japanese companies and from Korean companies. | ||
| But the question is, if you look at global economy, I would say the U.S. consumers are at a very advantaged place because most of the world cannot afford our living, our lifestyle and afford our method or our style of spending. | ||
| So I would say the Chinese success story is not just about the U.S. consumer goods. | ||
| It's about the global consumer goods and especially in global south and they're extremely popular. | ||
| And for the United States, I would say the fact that we still run last year is $350 billion of trade deficit vis-a-vis China means that we're still buying a lot from the Chinese. | ||
| New York Times this morning headline for you to respond to Yoon Sun, the 19th century opium war shapes Xi's trade clash with President Trump. | ||
|
unidentified
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Yeah, I read the story. | |
| I think it comes from two different angles. | ||
| One is fentanyl. | ||
| We call the fentanyl, the Chinese fentanyl, basically a Chinese opium war vis-a-vis the United States. | ||
| I think it triggers some very emotional response from the Chinese because opium war was a period where China was weak and China was victimized. | ||
| So I think that analogy has incurred some serious feedback or pushback from the Chinese side. | ||
| But on the other hand, if we look at the inflow of fentanyl from, for example, the producers in Mexico using Chinese fentanyl precursors to make the opioid to export to the American market, there is quite some similarity between these two cases. | ||
| However, I think the essential question that the Chinese have raised now to defend their position is that has American doctors been much more liberal about prescribing opioids? | ||
| And I would say there probably is a significant cultural difference here because in China it's extremely difficult to get to control the substance even through doctors, yes, through doctors' prescriptions because doctors have watched this so closely and by default they're not now supposed to give people painkillers, especially controlled substance painkillers unless there is absolute need like cancer. | ||
| So I think the two societies operate with very different ground rules and very different assumptions, which has created this problem that I think in the United States, doctors are indeed much more prone to giving people controlled substance painkillers compared to doctors in other countries. | ||
| Not to say that this practice is wrong, but it does contribute to the cause. | ||
| Yoon Sun is the program director of China Studies and Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center. | ||
| Thank you very much for your insight and conversation this morning. | ||
| We appreciate it. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you, Greta. | |
| Thank you for having me. | ||
| We'll get to your thoughts here in just a minute. | ||
| Let's begin with the latest. | ||
| Here are some headlines on the government shutdown from Politico. | ||
| The Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will engage pretty soon with Democrats about ending the shutdown. | ||
| Semaphore, with a similar headline this morning, thaw and shutdown talks raises senators' hopes for a deal next week. | ||
| And then there is also this from the Washington Post. | ||
| According to a new report, the government shutdown will cost the economy up to $14 billion. | ||
| And from the New York Times this morning, Obamacare prices become public, highlighting big increases. | ||
| The headline continues. | ||
| The government website now shows consumers how much their health insurance costs will increase next year as Congress remains at an impasse over the planned subsidies. | ||
| And then from the Hill newspaper, President Trump pitches working with Democrats on Obamacare alternative. | ||
| Listen to the president traveling to South Korea on Air Force One earlier on Wednesday, floating the idea of working with Democrats on the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| The Democrats have caused the problem on food stamps. | ||
| All they have to do is sign. | ||
| And, you know, if they sign, I'll meet with them. | ||
| They're all saying, well, they actually said Trump is doing an amazing job in this trip. | ||
| This trip, we're bringing back trillions of dollars, so it's hard. | ||
| But they do want to meet with me when I get back. | ||
| But I say get the economy open and we'll meet. | ||
| I'll meet and we'll solve any difficulties. | ||
| We have to fix health care because Obamacare is a disaster. | ||
| I mean, when you see the increases in Obamacare, it never worked. | ||
| It never will work. | ||
| And we can do something with the Democrats much better than Obamacare. | ||
| Less money and better health care. | ||
| And that's something I think that could come out of this with the Democrats. | ||
| You work with the Democrats. | ||
| Because right now the insurance companies are making too much money. | ||
| And they're making a fortune. | ||
| And the healthcare, Obamacare is poor. | ||
| And the premiums are ridiculous. | ||
| It's going up a lot. | ||
| I don't want to say the number. | ||
| The number is very substantial. | ||
| But when you hear the number, and it's Obamacare, it never worked. | ||
| It never will work. | ||
| It'll never be good. | ||
| And I think it's a great time for the Republicans and Democrats to get together and make something that will work and let the insurance companies make money. | ||
| They're entitled to that, but not the kind of money that they're making. | ||
|
unidentified
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Would you bring Democrats in to have that discussion? | |
| Yeah, I would do that, sure. | ||
|
unidentified
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But now, sir? | |
| I'd say open up the government and we'll work it out. | ||
|
unidentified
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I think a lot of good things can happen from it. | |
| President Trump aboard Air Force One on his way to South Korea on Wednesday. | ||
| You heard him say he's willing to talk to Democrats, but first they have to open up the government. | ||
| Democrats have said all along, we're not going to agree to open up the government until you sit down and talk to us about these affordable care enhanced tax credits. | ||
| Now, the president right now is on his way back to the United States, finishing up his trip to Asia. | ||
| And the news out of South Korea, out of the last stop of this trip, here's BBC's headline. | ||
| President Trump lowers tariffs on China and announces an end to rare earth roadblock after a meeting with the Chinese president in South Korea. | ||
| We're going to be talking about his meeting with the Chinese president coming up on the Washington Journal in the bottom half here of our first hour. | ||
| This morning, though, government shutdown, day 30. | ||
| This looks like it's heading into next week and could surpass the longest government shutdown of 35 days. | ||
| We'll continue to get your thoughts here this morning on the Washington Journal and your message to both the president and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. | ||
| What do you want them to do about the government shutdown? | ||
| Let's go to Crystal, who's in North Dakota, Republican Europe. | ||
| First, Crystal, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, good morning. | |
| What an honor to be first with you, Greta. | ||
| I am standing with the president and standing with the Republicans because we're looking at reducing the cost of our government. | ||
| And because of that, I've got a question that I don't know where to go for the answer to this. | ||
| All the tariff money that's coming in, billions and billions and billions, where is that going? | ||
| Is that going into the Treasury? | ||
| Is that helping pay some of the other costs for our government? | ||
| Because I know that we're talking about that. | ||
| Plus, here in North Dakota, we've got soybean farmers. | ||
| And they will be so pleased that the agreement, the trade agreement that President Trump made with soybean sales is going to help our economy. | ||
| And then the last thing is, where does this person who wrote, I think it's on Politico, that you just sit over talking about, with the cost to our economy of billions. | ||
| Well, how come? | ||
| Where is that? | ||
| Don't they think that all of us who are waiting are going to be spending once this all gets resolved? | ||
| Don't they think maybe some of us are going to start traveling again? | ||
| I think the economy is going to recover when we get all this settled. | ||
| And it's going to be a plus, plus, plus for our country. | ||
| Our economy is going to thrive. | ||
| We're going to go shopping. | ||
| Christmas is coming. | ||
| Thanksgiving is coming. | ||
| There's going to be trips. | ||
| I don't see all the negativity. | ||
| I really don't. | ||
| Thank you for letting me talk. | ||
| Yeah, let me read a little bit from the story. | ||
| This is from the Washington Times. | ||
| It was the Washington Post headline I shared with you, but it's also in the Washington Times because it's from the Congressional Budget Office. | ||
| Their analysis shows that it could cost the economy up to $14 billion. | ||
| Not only are federal food benefits set to run out on Saturday, but the U.S. economy could lose up to $14 billion due to the ongoing shutdown. | ||
| The shutdown will have a negative effect on the economy that will mostly, but not entirely, reverse once the shutdown ends. | ||
| This is from the CBO. | ||
| And Crystal, you just said that. | ||
| The analysis looks at three scenarios: a four-week shutdown ending October 29th, a six-week shutdown ending November 12th, and an eight-week shutdown ending November 26th. | ||
| Thursday today marks the day 30 of the shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans still at an impasse on how to fund the government. | ||
| So, this is in the papers this morning for you, Crystal, and others. | ||
| The CBO analysis saying it could cost the economy $14 billion. | ||
| And they also note this deadline of Saturday when food aid, known as SNAP, funding for that is suspended if we're still in a government shutdown. | ||
| Let's go to the Senate floor yesterday when Senator Ben Ray Lujan, Democrat of New Mexico, tried to get passed by unanimous consent a bill that would fund food stamps. | ||
| And the reaction from the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The Trump administration has the authority and the funds to keep SNAP running during this shutdown. | |
| And don't take my word for it. | ||
| Look at the USDA's own guidance that they removed from their website that justifies this. | ||
| Any failure to do so right now falls squarely on the Trump administration and Republicans. | ||
| We could vote on this today, on this bill or one that Senator Hawley's authored as well, that has many Republican colleagues that are co-sponsors to prevent a hunger crisis. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This pain does not need to happen. | |
| Reserving the right to object, let me just point out, if I might, that we are 29 days into a Democrat shutdown. | ||
| And the senator from New Mexico was absolutely right. | ||
| SNAP recipients shouldn't go without food. | ||
| People should be getting paid in this country. | ||
| And we've tried to do that 13 times. | ||
| And you voted no 13 times. | ||
| This isn't a political game. | ||
| These are real people's lives that we're talking about. | ||
| And you all have just figured out, 29 days in, that, oh, there might be some consequences. | ||
| There are people who run out of money. | ||
| Yeah, we're 29 days in. | ||
| And they've done their best to make sure that a lot of these programs are funded. | ||
| But at some point, the government runs out of money. | ||
| 13 times, people over here voted to fund SNAP. | ||
| 13 times they voted to fund WIP. | ||
| May Aiken back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Finally realize this thing has consequences. | |
| An angry Republican leader, John Thune, on the floor yesterday responding to Democrats' attempts to pass funding for SNAP benefits. | ||
| The food aid runs out of money on Saturday. | ||
| 42 million Americans affected by this lapse in funding for food stamps. | ||
| Your message to Washington on day 30 of the government shutdown, Donald in North Carolina, Independent. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, good morning, everybody, America. | |
| I view the world like a two-sided corn. | ||
| There's two sides to have the issue. | ||
| So I'm not going to be here blaming the Republicans or the Democrats in the House and the Senate. | ||
|
unidentified
|
But they did know Obamacare was ending at the end of this year. | |
| And it was the GOP and the DNC's responsibility. | ||
| They should have started a year ago sending out notices that Obamacare was going to end. | ||
| So that's what's happening. | ||
| The shock of the world that Obamacare is ending. | ||
| But we could have started reminding people over a year ago. | ||
| I have three other issues that I'd like to bring up. | ||
| Donald, pick one more because we've got folks waiting. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, I'm an independent, and I chose to be an independent because I was unhappy with both the Democratic and Independent Party. | |
| So if you're unhappy with the party you're with, register as an independent voter. | ||
| All right. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you very much. | |
| All right, Donald. | ||
| Following up on Donald's comments about the Affordable Care Act and the cost going up from the New York Times, we shared this headline earlier inside their reporting. | ||
| A rise of 30% in 30 states and 17% in others is what is expected. | ||
| Lisa in Alexandria, Virginia, a Republican. | ||
| Hi, Lisa. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi, good morning. | |
| I just noticed how you used the word Thun, Senator Thune, angrily, and then the words for Senator Lujan. | ||
| You say he passionately fought. | ||
| Well, Senator Thun. | ||
| I didn't say passionately, Lisa. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, well, your words were more positive to him. | |
| But you didn't talk about how Senator Thune passionately fought for the soldiers to be paid in Lujan and the Democrats just walked away. | ||
| Democrats bought this on themselves, and that is why they are walking away crying because people aren't buying it. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| All right, Lisa. | ||
| Lots of newspapers, political observers noting that the mild-mannered Republican leader John Thune was angry on the floor yesterday. | ||
| The clip that we showed you, you can find it on our website at c-span.org. | ||
| Ron in Indiana, Democratic Caller, let's hear from you, Ron. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| We're at the big dog and pony show. | ||
| Everybody's, I don't know if they're selling snake oil or BS. | ||
| We got people out there, the lobbyists writing every bill. | ||
| Maybe not everyone, but we have 15, what, 1,500 lobbyists just for the drug companies alone. | ||
| And Ron, tie this back to the government shutdown. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Oh, the shutdown was a ploy for cutting out the Epstein files, trying to delay matters and look good on both sides, I guess. | |
| I don't know, looking bad. | ||
| We need some help. | ||
| These people have been, they should have solved the immigrant problem 40, 50 years ago. | ||
| They didn't do that. | ||
| Not necessarily socialized medicine. | ||
| We don't have the best medical system in the world. | ||
| It costs us twice as much for everything. | ||
| I just had open heart surgery here. | ||
| All right, Ron, I'm going to leave it there. | ||
| Pasquelli in Arizona, independent. | ||
| Let's turn to you. | ||
| In Arizona? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello? | |
| Hello. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| It's your turn. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, I was just a lot of questions. | |
| I don't understand what the Democrats are doing. | ||
| You know, they should be more worried about learning the government instead of having a shutdown work on a part-time basis. | ||
| All right, Caller. | ||
| We'll listen to the reporting this morning from Punchbowl News. | ||
| Today is October 30th. | ||
| That means it's been a month since the fiscal year 2025 ended and federal agencies closed. | ||
| This will become the longest government shutdown in American history by the end of next week, barring some miracle. | ||
| The Senate is heading home this afternoon without doing anything to reopen the government. | ||
| There's been absolutely no movement for weeks now. | ||
| Every potential off-ramp has been closed, with both Republicans and Democrats digging in even deeper. | ||
| Has that definitely changed? | ||
| No. | ||
| But there's been some optimistic talks in the Capitol over the last few days with rank and file senators saying they've started, restarted bipartisan negotiations over fiscal year 2026 spending bills. | ||
| Let's be abundantly clear here. | ||
| A bipartisan appropriations package doesn't solve what's at the heart of the shutdown impasse, a fundamental disagreement over the COVID-era enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies. | ||
| Democrats have said they won't vote to reopen the government without a concrete deal on these tax credits. | ||
| And the vast majority of Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have little to no interest in extending them. | ||
| Thun raised eyebrows Wednesday after saying he would be meeting pretty soon with Democrats who've been involved in informal bipartisan talks over health care and the shutdown. | ||
| But Thune later said he doesn't have anything to report about a potential meeting and said his position remains the same. | ||
| Open up the government, then we'll talk. | ||
| Kathy in Pennsylvania, Republican, good morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning, everyone. | |
| I just have maybe a solution to the shutdown. | ||
| I think what we need to do is start fining these senators. | ||
| Fine them $2,000 a day. | ||
| Let them feel some pain. | ||
| Maybe the shutdown will end. | ||
| Thanks, everyone. | ||
| Have a great day. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Matt in New York and Independent. | ||
| Matt, what do you say? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| Yes. | ||
| First off, they keep saying that it's a Democrat shutdown, but it's not. | ||
| It's the Republicans are not changing what they want. | ||
| So the Democrats aren't agreeing to it. | ||
| So it's not just a Democratic shutdown. | ||
| They say that. | ||
| But don't, please don't cut me off. | ||
| The more important point is, why don't they stop paying both sides of the people that are voting there that are shutting it down, the Democrats and Republicans? | ||
| Other people aren't getting paid in the federal government. | ||
| Why not give these people and not give their paychecks? | ||
| I figured they come back and open up the government very fast if they're not getting their paychecks. | ||
| It's very weird that everyone else, the federal people, aren't getting their paychecks, but they're still getting their paychecks paid. | ||
| All right. | ||
| That seems a little bit weird. | ||
| And the other thing is, the other thing is the most recent picture of Donald Trump on the plane. | ||
| He's got like a fake ear. | ||
| All right. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Michael, Florida, Democratic caller. | |
| Yes, good morning. | ||
| How are you? | ||
| Morning. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The reason I'm calling about this shutdown is, first of all, I want to thank the Democrats for finally standing up and getting and doing something because there's too many people on their knees for this president. | |
| They won't stand up and be men and stand up against this guy. | ||
| They won't speak out against this guy because they're scared of him. | ||
| They need to start being men and women and stand up to this gentleman. | ||
| So, Michael, you're here. | ||
| Your message to the party is do not cave. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's right. | |
| Do not cave. | ||
| Stand your ground. | ||
| Do not cave. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| Michael there, Democratic caller in Florida. | ||
| What's happening today in Washington? | ||
| We will hear from the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, once again. | ||
| He'll hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, along with other Republican leaders on day 30 of the government shutdown. | ||
| President Trump will arrive at the White House around 3 p.m. Eastern Time, and he will join the First Lady for a Halloween celebration at the White House. |