dividing unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to work the debate is cited. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. secretary of state anthony blinken spoke to reporters after meeting with chinese president xi jinping in beijing. during his remarks, he highlights u.s.-china relations and expresses concern about the nation's role in russia's invasion of ukraine. this is about 25 minutes. in r's invasion of ukraine. this is about 25 minutes.

sec. blinken: good evening everyone. 10 months ago i visitor to china at a time of profound tension between our countries. with the aim of stimulating the relationship and reopening and strengthening our channels of communication. over a series of candid and constructive conversations i had that with president xi and other senior officials, i am made clear our policies can internships and identified issues of shared interest where we might work together. those discussions which were followed by additional senior-level visits and meetings between our governments helped lay the foundation for a productive summit between president biden, president xi in san francisco at the end of last year. our leaders agreed on concrete steps to cooperate on issues that matter to our people, to the world, and reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. in the months since then, we have focused intensively on

advancing those commitments. i will returned -- i returned to china this week to take stock of where we have made progress and were more needs to be done so we can deliver casual results to the american people. that has been my focus of the meeting the last two days with president xi, foreign minister wang yi, and the shanghai party secretary. since the woodside summit, we have advanced corporation on fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. the number one killer of americans between the ages of1 18-45. specifically, the prc has issued a notice and taking enforcement actions against companies that produce the chemical ingredients that make up aesthetic drugs. in the u.s. and china have set up the joint contract or offensive working group to collaborate on policymaking and law enforcement and share

technical expertise. thanks in large part to the working group's efforts, china is providing information to international law enforcement that can be used to track illicit drugs and their precursors. in the two governments recently agreed to share best practices of improving loopholes in our financial systems that the drug traffickers and other criminal enterprises use the laundry. -- to launder their money. this is an important progress, but more needs to be done. in my discussions, i understand the importance of the prc is taking with additional action, particularly by prosecuting those who are selling chemicals and equipment used to make fentanyl and regulating the precursors, and disrupting illicit financing networks. since the woodside meeting between the presidents, we have also resumed direct military to military communications at multiple levels, something i made a top priority in my meetings in beijing last year.

prc and u.s. officials met for two days in the pentagon. earlier this month, our naval forces held talks aimed at ensuring safer interactions. last week secretary of defense lloyd austin had his first video call with the chinese secretary of defense. direct, open clear lines of , communication like these are critical to avoiding miscalculations. i am pleased to announce that earlier today we agreed to hold the first u.s.-prc talks on artificial intelligence to be held in the coming weeks. we will share our respective views on the risks and safety concerns around advanced ai and how best to manage. we also spoke about ways that we can continue to grow people to people ties between our countries particularly ational exchanges. our governments have a vested interest in creating open and welcoming conditions for these programs which have long enriched both of our countries . as you know, i had a chance to meet yesterday with a few dozen

american and chinese students who are learning side by side at the nyu shohei program is other joint u.s.-prc university programs in china. i heard how the experience has deepened their knowledge inside and outside the classroom and forged ties that will last well beyond their shared educational experience. while there are more than 290,000 chinese students in the united states there are fewer than 900 americans studying here in china and that's a significant drop from a decade ago when we had about 15,000 americans studying here. president xi said he wants to significantly increase the number of americans studying here in the coming years and that's something that we support . we have an interest in this, because if our future leaders, whether the government or in business or in civil society, claimant, tech and other fields, if they are going to be able to collaborate, if they are going to be able to solve big problems, if they are going to be able to work through our differences, they will need to know and understand each other,

language, culture, history. what i told my prc counterparts on this visit, is if they want to attract more americans here to china particularly students, the best way to do that is to create the conditions that allow learning to flourish anywhere. a free and open discussion of ideas. access to a wide range of information ease of travel, , confidence in the safety security and privacy of the participants. even as we seek to deepen cooperation where our interests align the united states is very clear eyed about the challenges posed by the prc and about our competing visions for the future. america will always defend our core interests and values. i reiterated our serious concern about the prc providing components that are powering russia's brutal war of aggression against ukraine. china is a top supplier of machine tools, microelectronics,

nitrocellulose which is critical to making weapons and rocket propellants, and other items that moscow is using to ramp up its defense industrial base a defense industrial base. a defense industrial base that is turning out rockets, drones, tanks and other weapons that president putin is using to to invade a sovereign country to demolish its power grid and other civilian infrastructure to kill innocent, children, women and men. russia would struggle to sustain its assault on ukraine without china's support. in my meetings with nato allies early this month and with our g7 partners just last week, i heard that same message. fueling russia's defense industrial base not only threatens ukrainian security it threatens european security . beijing cannot achieve better relations with europe while supporting the greatest threat to european security since the end of the cold war. as we told china for some time, ensuring transatlantic security

is recording this interest. in our discussions today i made clear that if china does not address this problem we will i . i also expressed our concern about the prc's unfair trade practices and the potential consequences of industrial overcapacity for global and u.s. markets especially in a number of industries that will drive the 21st century economy. like solar panels, electric vehicles and the batteries that power them. china alone is producing more than 100% of global demand for these products, flooding markets, undermining competition and putting at risk neighborhoods and businesses all around. now, this is the movie we have seen before and we know how it ends, with american businesses shuttered and american jobs lost. president biden will not let this happen on his watch we will do what's necessary to ensure that american workers can compete on a level playing field . america's actions are not aimed at holding back china's

development, nor are we decoupling our economies. as secretary yellen said during her recent visit, that would be disastrous for the global economy, including for the united states. we want china's economy to grow . so do the american businesses and investors here several of whom i had an opportunity to speak to. but the way china grows matters. as i told my counterparts, that means fostering a healthy economic relationship where american workers and firms are treated equally and fairly in . in today's meetings, i discussed the prc's dangerous actions in the south china sea including against routine philippine maintenance operations and maintenance operations near the second thomas shoal. freedom of navigation and commerce in these waterways is not only critical to the philippines, but to the u.s. into every other nation in the indo-pacific and ended around the world. that is why so many nations have

expressed concern about the prc's maritime maneuvers. i made clear that while the u.s. will continue to work to de-escalate tensions and defense commitments to the philippines remain ironclad murray reaffirmed the u.s.'s one china policy and stretch the critical importance of maintaining peace and stability across the taiwan strait. i raised the cases of of american citizens who are wrongfully detained and those who are subject to exit bands president biden and i will not rest until they are back with their families where they belong. i also raised concerns about the erosion of hong kong's autonomy and democratic institutions as well as transnational repression ongoing human rights abuses in xinjiang and tibet and the number of individual human rights cases. i appreciate that the prc granted short-term visas to a number of the foreign journalists who are here so that they could cover this visit. in my meetings i encouraged the prc counterparts to fulfill the commitment that they made in 2021 to provide equal access to our two countries' media

organizations. the united states will continue to insist on reciprocity on this issue just as we do for our businesses, cross-cultural exchanges, and many other areas. we also discussed a range of regional and global crises where china can play a constructive role. i encouraged china to use its influence to discourage iran and its proxies from expanding the conflict in the middle east and to press pyongyang to end its dangerous behavior and engage in dialogue. going forward so that we will continue our high-level discussions on these and other issues. other policies the united states has pursued in the past two years at home and around the world are hidden by a singular -- driven by a singular objective, delivering for the american people. meeting the challenges that they face, creating the opportunities that they seek. but in the future were great at their children and their children's children are secure, free, prosperous and healthy.

that is what has motivated the historic investments we have made in our competitors back home and reinvigorated our alliances and partnerships around the world. that same objective animated the meetings in china in the past two days and will continue to guide us as we manage this relationship that is so consequential for our two nations and for the entire world. i am happy to take some questions. >> first question goes to bloomberg. reporter: thank secretary. he said the u.s. was taking endless measures to suppress china's economy and warned that growing negative factors could derail the effort by presidents but i did and -- biden and she remembered to stimulate u.s.-china ties. do you think the biden administration's pledge to increase tariffs or the therapy sessions and actions like the probe into the china shipbuilding could push the u.s.

and china back to out period of dangerous volatility? is the u.s. ready to move forward on sanctions? separately, given north korea is also sending massive shipments of munitions to russia, to bring that up with your chinese counterpart. did you get any chinese corporation there on tiktok, does that, today? how do you expect china to respond? sec. blinken: not sure i got out of it, but i will try. no, tiktok didn't come up. on the economic relationship, let's put this in perspective. we remain, the united states remains the largest markets for chinese products around the world. our own trade relationship remain significant. in fact, china is our third-largest trading partner after canada and mexico. and as i heard from american businesses and investors in shanghai there remains a very , strong interest in working in this market provided that we

have a level playing field. in the fair shot. when we do, we do very well. but we are looking at a question of tariffs, 301 measurements, et cetera, what we are focused on practices and engagement by china that she engaged in by china that are unfair and undermine our businesses and workers and the question of overcapacity is front and center. china is responsible for one-third of global production, but 1/10 of the global demand. so there is a clear mismatch. when you have products that are produced here and in no way that is heavily subsidized, heavily supported in other ways, and that allows those products then to be sold at low prices and sometimes below market prices,

pushing the businesses from these countries out of business and have been potentially devastating effects on communities and businesses, that is something that we have to, we will and we are standing against. both are the important thing is that it is not just us, this is a concern that i have heard around the world notably from european partners then it came up in conversation a week ago when we had a meeting of the g7. so this is not about containing china. it's not about cutting off trade or investment. as you heard secretary yellen say, this is important to us in many countries around the world, but we want to make sure it proceeds fairly and in no way that doesn't have these unfair effects on our industries and our workers spend on our companies. under, again, that something that is shared across the world. when it comes to china support

russian defense industrial base, all i could tell you. i was extremely clear about our concerns in some detail at, but we will have to see what actions follow from that. now, i think china has demonstrated in the past when it comes to russia and ukraine that it can take positive action you . you will recall that well over a year ago we had concerns that russia was considering the possible use of a nuclear weapon and i believe that china's voice was important, at least at that time, moving russia away from the possible course of action. but now it is absolutely critical that the support that it is providing not in terms of weapons components for the , but defense industrial base , again, things like machine tools, microelectronics where it is overwhelmingly the number one

supplier to russia, that's having a material effect in ukraine and against ukraine, but it's also having a material effect in creating a growing threat that russia poses to countries in europe and something that has captured their attention in a very intense way. and as its than tiktok did not come up. thanks. reporter: we observed intensive interaction between china and the u.s. at various levels since the woodside summit last november. as well as intensive interaction with cheney's officers and your people. with the u.s. election agenda gradually dominating american politics, there is the need for various parties to demonstrate their strong stance on china to secure votes, leading to negative sentiments and action

regarding china. so in this context, how can you effectively implement the achievements made by both side during this period, also minimizing the influence of campaign-style rhetoric and fostering more goodwill to stabilize sino u.s. relations? sec. blinken: thank you. in my job, i turned to politics. i focus on policies. that is what i have been doing here at president biden's instruction, trying to carry forward the agenda and agreements that were reached between president biden and president xi in california at the end of last year. that is where my focus is and that is where it will remain in the months ahead. and, as i said, if moments ago so that we have seen important progress on the agenda -- that as i said a few moments ago, we have seen important progress on that agenda in the time since the meeting between the two residents including our, on

military to military ties, communications including meltdown of the richest and most on ai as well as people to people exchanges and connections between our countries. also, vitally important coming out of the california meetings as president biden made clear that we continue to communicate clearly about our differences at the very least to minimize the chance of misunderstandings. that is also exactly what i did on this visit and will continue to do. but is what is required, which is to continue to advance our interests and our values which has nothing to do with election cycles, and everything to do with what is important to the american people. >> reporter: mr. secretary, you mentioned that you think that china can play a

more constructive role in global crises, particularly the middle east. you had a conversation with the wang yi earlier this month around the time when the iran-israel tensions were wrapping up. i wonder if you have an assessment of the role that china has played, whether it is sufficient in the actions that the chinese government has taken so far, and there are some reports that palestinian groups, hamas and fatah had a meeting here in beijing. while you were here. i wonder if that is an area where he would welcome some attorneys involvement. and when we are on the middle east, i think we cannot ignore some of the images that have been coming out from back in the u.s. for university campuses. it is quite striking to see some of the violence in these protests. students all across your country

are coming out and and expressing their outrage at what is happening in gaza. are you taking on board those protests? what do you say to young people, young americans who see this as a moment when they need to speak out against their government? sec. blinken: so, first on the middle east, i think i have talked to foreign minister wang yi at least half a dozen times on this since october 7, including today, but also in previous meetings where we had phone conversations, et cetera. and yes, i think this is an area where china can use the relationships that has an influence has to try, for example, to prevent the conflict from excavating and spreading. we had a good conversation when

tensions were particularly acute follow preceding and then immediately following iran's unprecedented attack on israel 10 days or so ago. i think the relationships that china has can be positive and trying to calm tensions, prevent escalation, avoid the spread of the conflict. we agreed that we would remain in regular touch on this, and that is certainly my intention. i am not aware of thinking you are referring to between fatah and hamas so, nothing to say that. in terms of the protests back home, can suck it is not my practice to comment on domestic matters, but look, people have strong passionate feelings about what is happening in gaza and in the middle east.

that i very much understand. when we see the horrific human suffering and the death of children, women and men who are caught in the crossfire of hamas's making, it is gut wrenching, as i have said before. and we want to do everything we can to bring it to an end. and in our own country, it is a hallmark of our democracy that our citizens make known their views, your concerns, their anger at any given time -- make known their views, their concerns, their anger at any given time. it reflects the strength of the country and the democracy. now as i have always said before, this could be over tomorrow. it could have been over yesterday. it could have been over months ago if hamas put down its

weapons, stop hiding behind civilians, released hostages, and surrendered. but, of course, it has chosen not to do that. it is also notable that there is silence about hamas. it is as if it wasn't even part of the story. but as i have also said repeatedly, the way israel goes about ensuring that october 7 never happens again matters profoundly. and we are working every day to try to minimize the damage that is done to innocent people and to make sure that they have the assistance and support that they need. reporter: for the final question, dpa. reporter: thank you. my question was basically just asked. sec. blinken: good, thank you. [laughter] reporter: i will just ask another one. you said that you also require

countries in europe to join the plans to prevent china from supplying military or dual -goods to russia. do you expect from these countries. how should they act now? sec. blinken: is not what we expect from them. their profound concerns about the action stays enterprises are taking to support russia's defense industrial base -- it is not what we expect from them. it is their phone concerns about the actions that chinese enterprises are taking to support russia's defense industrial base because this goes not only to the immediate threat posed by russia and it's aggression against ukraine it goes to a medium and long-term threat that many europeans feel viscerally that russia

potentially poses to them. what i heard in my conversations last week at the g7 meeting before that, and nato come up with a shared concern about this. i had detailed conversations with a number of european leaders about their concerns including president macron of france, german counterparts, british, italian, many others. and i think all of us are looking to china to take steps to curb this action. end of your own so, as i said, looking at the actions that are fully prepared to take if we don't see a change. and we are also, as i said, looking at the actions that we are fully prepared to take if we don't see a change. and impose sanctions on more than 100 chinese entities, export controls, et cetera. we prepared to take additional measures and memory that va

>> sees ben's washington journal, a live forum to discuss the latest issues of government, politics and public policy from washington, d.c. to across the country. saturday morning we talk with andrew, president of a nonpartisan research group public agenda about free speech on public safety issues amid protests on college campuses over the israel-hamas conflict. we discussed the latest development from the campus of columbia university and the protests there with the editor in chief of the independent student newspaper spectator. in our spotlight on podcast segment, author and journalist ray talks about his broadcast on shifting ground in his book, we are home, becoming american in the 21st century and oral history. c-span's washington journal, joining the conversation live at

7:00 eastern saturday morning on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. earlier this month, military hero died at the age of 97. he was a korean war veteran and receive the medal of honor for bravery. in tribute to his body will lie and honor at the u.s. capitol in washington, d.c.. monday, watch live coverage beginning at 2:15 p.m. eastern on c-span two, c-span now are free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> next week on the c-span networks, the house and senate are in session. the houseplants to take up legislation to combat anti-semitism on college campuses. the senate will consider a five-year faa reauthorization bill to extend its programs past the may 10 deadline. on tuesday, the nasa administrator testifies before the house science, space and technology committee on his

agencies funny 25 budget proposal. united health group ceo andrew will be on capitol hill testifying on cyber security and the health sector. first on tuesday before the senate finance committee, then on wednesday before the house energy and commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations. it marks the first time the united health group ceo testified before congress since the massive ransomware attack that disrupted claims processing. on thursday, the interior secretary testifies before the senate energy and natural resources committee on her department's proposed 2025 budget. watch next week live on the c-span networks or on c-span now, our free mobile video app. also, head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to watch live or on demand any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government.