Deputy Secretary Of State Asked How China Will React After Israel Strikes Hezbollah In Lebanon

3 months ago

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) questioned Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell about China's reaction to a potential escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Deputy Secretary, for being here today and for your

00:05work.

00:07Senator Kaine and I just came from a hearing at the Armed Services Committee on the presentation

00:12on the Commission on our National Defense Strategy.

00:15They said two things that I think are really relevant for this conversation.

00:18First, that we are facing the most dangerous global environment at any time since World

00:23War II, the end of World War II.

00:25And second, that we need an approach that coordinates all elements of our national power,

00:32which has been part of the discussion that we've heard this morning.

00:37And I just want to, at the risk of beating a dead issue, I want to go back to the nominations.

00:42And I'm sorry that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren't here, because China

00:48continues to prioritize their diplomatic engagement, their ambassadors around the world, particularly

00:54in the Global South, as you pointed out.

00:57And yet, we can't get our ambassadors approved, even the career ambassadors, not just in Africa

01:05and South America, but also in places like Albania and Montenegro and the Western Balkans,

01:12where Albania, many in Albania see it as a direct affront that we still don't have an

01:19ambassador in Albania, after they've been willing to take Afghans when we needed to

01:26evacuate Afghanistan, when they've been willing to take Iranians from Camp Ashra to help us

01:32out.

01:34And we still have our career ambassadors to Albania and Montenegro being held up on the

01:41other side of the aisle.

01:43Senator Barrasso, I'm glad you got here, because this is a conversation that I think is important

01:47for everybody.

01:49I would echo what you had to say about Dorothy Shea, who I had the good fortune to work with

01:54when she was ambassador to Lebanon.

01:56She is the reason, I believe, we were able to get out a New Hampshire citizen who was

02:01being held, detained by the Lebanese government for months, who got cancer while he was in

02:08the detention.

02:09And to have a career ambassador like Dorothy Shea being held up for partisan political

02:16reasons is antithetical to the national security of the United States.

02:21So is this not a concession to the PRC that we should never be making?

02:25Yeah.

02:26Look, I could not agree more with that.

02:29First of all, let me say it was great to see you in London, Senator.

02:34I also appreciated meeting your husband.

02:36We are going to the Celtics game.

02:38Sorry, only two tickets, so that's the way it's going to be.

02:43Just to your particular question, I do want to just say the effect that it has on morale

02:49of the people that I work with.

02:54If you're in government or you kind of walk down the street and you're a military officer,

03:00every single person tells you, thank you for your service, a little salute and such.

03:05Almost every week, I get a letter from someone who is somewhat surprised that a Foreign Service

03:11officer has helped them in a time of difficulty when they're ill or something.

03:22And they write a note and they're like, I'm surprised by this.

03:26I don't know why I'm surprised, but this person went beyond the call to help me and my family

03:33in their time of need.

03:34And I think there is a tendency not to recognize the unbelievable competence and patriotism

03:42of these people.

03:43And no one tells them, thank you for your service.

03:47I think we should do that for the military folks, absolutely.

03:51But we need to recognize that these people are often working in harm's way, lesser resources,

03:57under enormous duress.

03:58You see them yourself.

03:59You're out there traveling.

04:01I think, as I tried to say, I think there are often real issues.

04:06Take it out on the political people.

04:07Take it out on me.

04:09Our career people deserve to be able to serve.

04:12When I meet with them, and it's been two years as they're waiting, I don't have a good answer

04:18for that.

04:20And I also think it makes me feel like I can't do my job persuading people that I respect

04:27to get on with this, to move this on.

04:29And trust me, there is not one country where we're contesting China, where we go to that

04:34country and we've got a strong ambassador and China doesn't have someone.

04:38They're out there and we need more people on the field.

04:41I couldn't agree more.

04:43I do have a question about China, just with the little bit of time I have left.

04:49And that is, as we're looking at the potential for an expansion of a broader war in the Middle

04:55East with Israel targeting southern Lebanon because of the horrible acts of Hezbollah,

05:03where is China going to come down on this and what role are they going to play?

05:09So I will say this, Senator, before this, this is a horrible, tragic war.

05:15There were a lot of concerns about how China's influence had grown.

05:18Yes, they played a role between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

05:24You'll note that since the conflict has begun, tragic, horrible, the country that people

05:30call to engage, to be involved directly is the United States.

05:35And China is largely absent.

05:37Their engagement has been largely shallow.

05:40I would say I do not believe, Senator, that they don't want to see an enlargement of the

05:45war.

05:46And I think they are worried about the potential for escalation.

05:50But at the same time, they really haven't weighed in with their diplomatic might in

05:55the situation involving the Houthis.

05:58They have not been as direct about their concerns about escalation to Iran.

06:04They have raised it in certain circumstances, but not with the power and influence of a

06:12great power like China.

06:14I think we would expect them to do more, and we continue to call on them, as we do

06:20on other countries, to make sure that their voices are felt.

06:24I do acknowledge that this is an extremely delicate and worrisome time.

06:30And we're doing – Secretary Blinken, in addition to – he's on this long trip through

06:35the Indo-Pacific.

06:36He's on the phone every night with the countries in Latin America to basically figure out

06:44our best way forward on Venezuela.

06:45But he's also working the phones in the Middle East to try to prevent an escalation

06:51and, frankly, to move us towards a hostage exchange and a better set of circumstances

06:59in Gaza.

07:01Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Deputy Secretary Of State Asked How China Will React After Israel Strikes Hezbollah In Lebanon

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