On Thursday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) argued that we shouldn’t listen to China’s rhetoric about them wanting to dominate the world because “They have too much invested in a world that is not in conflict.”
Host Leland Vittert asked, “I spent four years in the Middle East, a lot of that time was in Israel, a lot of that time was with — shall we say — some bad people in bad places. I learned that when people say they want to kill you or they want to take over, to take them seriously, to believe them the first time. Why should we not take China at face value when it says they want to rule the world?”
Smith answered, “They have too much invested in a world that is not in conflict. … China has 1.4 billion people to feed. They’ve got to sell stuff to the rest of the world.”
Earlier, Smith said that countries engage in tough talk, including the United States and China. And argued that President Donald Trump takes an insufficiently pro-democracy approach in how he talks and treats leaders, which would be a better stance towards China.
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