Washington (November 15, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement as President Donald Trump wraps up his five-country trip to Asia.
 
“Continued American leadership in Asia-Pacific is essential for global peace and security,” said Senator Markey. “But to lead in the region, we must understand China’s strategic intentions and their impact on the United States. The United States should work with China and others to strengthen the international system that promotes peace and stability.  China has benefitted tremendously from this system, but is now challenging the very underpinnings of that global order. China has not lived up to its international obligations to help denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Beijing has undermined the sovereignty of its smaller neighbors. U.S. companies operating in China face the threat of intellectual property theft. And China is undermining fundamental human rights, including by silencing those seeking democracy. We must ensure that we protect both U.S. economic and security interests, as well as the broader international system that has helped provide peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.”
 
“President Trump failed to make meaningful progress on these critical economic and security issues during his trip to East Asia,” continued Senator Markey. “Rather than denouncing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s murderous anti-drug campaign that resulted in the deaths of at least 6,000 people and his government’s gross human rights abuses, President Trump instead hailed the ‘great relationship’ he has with the Philippine president. Rather than building on the messages in Japan and South Korea on the importance of trilateral unity in the face of the North Korean threat, President Trump tweeted about how hard he has tried to be North Korea’s friend and called Kim Jong Un ‘short and fat.’
 
“It is past time for President Trump to focus on working with our partners to find a meaningful diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis. President Trump was too distracted by the pomp and circumstance in Beijing to extract meaningful economic and security concessions from China.”
 

###