Pence: China do not intimidate us

US Vice President Mike Pence will make a harsh criticism of the Chinese leadership. Excerpts from the speech, which the Pence will utter on Thursday evening at the Gudzon Institute, publish Reuters and CNN .

China will not be able to intimidate the Americans, will declare a penalty in connection with the Sunday incident in the South Chinese Sea near the controversial islands of Svtli, where the KNR ship approached the American destroyer Decatur at 40 meters. Pence calls the actions of the Chinese side "reckless persecution." He assures that the American Navy "will continue to fly, swim and act everywhere where it allows international law and require our national interests." Beijing said that the appearance of an American ship in this water area "is jealous of the sovereignty and safety of China," and the actions of the Chinese crew were legitimate.

Pence also accuses China of expansionism and announces the tightening of the American position on the problem of Taiwan status. Although the United States still adhere to the "politicians of one China", they condemn Beijing's pressure on the Taiwan allies, which "threatens stability in the Taiwanese Strait." "Taiwanese democracy shows the best way for the entire Chinese people," Pence notes.

According to Pence, China uses "debt diplomacy" to expand its influence. "This country offers billions of dollars in the form of infrastructure development from Asia to Africa and from Europe to Latin America. However, the conditions of these loans are opaque at best, and the main profit goes to Beijing," the vice president says. According to him, Beijing extended his life to the "corrupt and incompetent regime of Maduro" in Venezuela, providing him with loans for $ 5 billion.

In the United States itself, according to Pence, the Chinese authorities are trying to use any disagreement between federal and local authorities to promote their agenda using agents of influence and propaganda. "As one prominent member of our intelligence community has recently told me, what the Russians do in comparison with the actions of China in our country," the vice president notes.

According to him, the Chinese leadership also exerts pressure on American corporations, forcing them to criticize the White House under the threat of licenses.