All major points of contention. Will this become a new cold war . Ill talk first to the Chinese Ambassador to washington, krtcu tiankai, then to the former deputy of state, tony blinken. An explosion at a nuclear site, a major chlorine leak. What in the world is going on in iraq . We will get to the bottom of this mystery. Also, empty streets and sidewalks around the world, billions of people confined to their homes. What has this pandemic done to the world and to humanity . I will talk to the french philosopher bernardhenri levy. Finally from questioning president obamas place of birth to declaring dead people were voting for hillary clinton, Donald Trumps conspiracy theories of the subject of my new special airing monday night at 9 00 p. M. I will give you a sneak preview. But first, heres my take with the pandemic overshadowing everything, one can sometimes forget there is a president ial Campaign Going on. That helps to explain why the media paid so little attention over the past two weeks when joe biden released his plans to fight Climate Change and revive the economy. The Climate Change plan is ambitious and forwardthinking but more interesting is the economic plan, which promises to, quote, ensure the future is made in all of america, unquote. That sounds like an America First agenda, and sure enough, President Trump accused biden of stealing his ideas. But, in fact, while the plan is politically clever in moving directly under trumps turf of economic nationalism, it is much better than the president s approach. First and most important is what the plan does not do. It is not a score for tariffs and trade wars, the hallmark of the trump presidency. These trump policies have failed by any measure. The evidence is so clear that when biden released a fiery ad saying that trump lost the trade war with china, poltifacts only quibble with that claim is it should have been in the present tense, losing. They pointed to the following studies from 2019. A Federal Reserve report that determined the tariffs have not boosted manufacturing employment or output, even as they have increased producer prices. A moodys analysis finding the trade war had cost the United States 300,000 jobs. And a Federal Reserve study assessing the cost of these tariffs to the average American Household as about 800 per year per household, wiping out the gains from the trump tax cut. Oxford economics estimated that the trade war shaved 0. 3 off american gdp growth last year. The biden plans boldest idea is to massively ramp up investment and research and development. Biden proposes raising spending by 300 billion over four years, which represents a 60 increase over 2018 spending. If enacted, this would reverse the steady decline in federal investment in science and Technology Since its heyday in the 1950s and 60s. Those investments led to the personal computer, the internet, the Global Positioning system and a host of other technologies that have transformed the economy. More recently, its worth remembering an Energy Department loan of 465 million is what enabled tesla to establish itself and experiment with electric cars. The biden plan proposes investments in 5g technology, electric cars, lightweight materials and artificial intelligence. Some of this money will be wasted as often happens to investments from Venture Capital firms. All you need is for some, like tesla, to succeed big. The plan has a 400 billion buy america component. The theory behind this is sensible, the danger much this approach is it can too often become industrial policy with the government trying to revive bygone Industries Like steel, as biden apparently wants to do. And it often favors firms with the best lobbies and not the best ideas. More generally, the track record of most rich countries in practicing this kind of industrial policy has been pretty bad. Experts used to point to japan as the country that had mastered governmentdirected investment, except that it turned out japans best companies all came out of its fiercely competitive private sector. The state sponsored ones mostly did poorly. China is different, by the way, because its biggest advantage is not smart government investments but low wages. The best model is not for the government to set up or subsidize specific companies or industries, but to let the market know it will buy certain kinds of innovative products, which then gives the private sector an incentive to produce them. For example, as late as 1962, the United States government was responsible for purchasing 100 of all Semiconductor Chips produced in the country, which is what allowed that industry to become viable. Similarly, nasa orders powerfully helped the computer industry in the 1960s. Biden rightly wants to emulate this approach. Its worth pointing out key agencies in the federal government in those days, in the fikts and 60s, were much more efficient and operated with far great insulation from special interests and lobbyists. One final caution buy american has been around for a long time. In fact, it was initiated in 1933 on the last day of herbert hoovers term in office responding to a buy british plan announced in london. The result of these kind of moves sent the world into a downward spiral of protectionism and nationalism, impoverrishing ordinary people and creating a dangerous climate. Lets keep that history in mind as we implement this next version of buy american. Go to cnn. Com fareed for a link to my column this week. And lets get started. It has been a dizzying week in relations between the United States and china. On monday the secretary of state, mike pompeo, said that the u. S. Rejects most of chinas claims over the South China Sea. That same day, china announced it was sanctioning three prominent republicans for interfering in chinas internal affairs. On tuesday President Trump issued an executive order removing favorite status for hong kong. On wednesday the New York Times was first to report that the white house is considering a broad ban on members of the Chinese Communist party from coming to the u. S. On thursday the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the u. S. Of oppressing and bullying china. That is just some of the tit for tat going on between the two countries. Im joined now by chinas ambassador to the United States, countercounterf cui tiankai. Thank you for joining us. Nice to talk to you again. Let me ask you a broad question first, which is when i watched the debate that is taking place in washington, what i notice is that on both sides of the spectrum, republicans and democrats there is a feeling and they are making this argument that they face a new china under xi jinping and in recent years a china that has become more assertive, more expansionist and more repressive. This will require a very different american response than the previous policy of many decades. How do you react to that . Why do you think this is happening . Well, you see, i think the people have to fully recognize the realities of todays world. Actually, the Chinese Civilization has been there for about 5,000 years, much longer than the United States. And strong continued for the Chinese Civilization. And ongoing efforts by the Chinese People to modernize our own country. This has never changed. Whether in the last 70 years or in the last 7 years. This is a continuing process. And we certainly have the legitimate right to build our country into a modernized, strong, prosperous country, like every other country in the world. I think that the fundamental question for the United States is very simple. Is the United States ready or willing to live with another country with very different culture, very different political and economic system, whether the United States is ready to live with it in peace and cooperate on so many and still growing challenges. I think that this is a real choice. This is a fundamental choice people have to make. In the South China Sea you saw mike pompeos statement. But, of course, you also have had an International Ruling that what china is doing in the South China Seas is a violation of International Law. Will china change course and accept that it has, in fact, been violating International Law in terms of its activities in the South China Seas . Let me tell you this, that ruling was a unilateral action. We rejected from the very beginning. We dont think that this is the right thing to do. But some people insisted in doing. We have told them at the very beginning that this isnt the right thing to do. We will not participate in such a ruling. So, its not based on solid legal ground. But at the same time, we have a very strong position on our sovereignty on the territorial claim in the region. And our claims have very strong historic and legal foundation. But still, we want to solve all the disputes with other countries, with other claimant countries, through diplomatic negotiations. You see, i myself some years ago took part in the work on the declaration of conduct between china and the asean countries. Now we are working on the code of conduct and we are making good progress. Actually, without outside interference, the situation in the region was cooling down, was quite stable. Unfortunately, countries like the u. S. , particularly the United States, is trying very hard to intervene, to send to stress their military presence in the region. The intensity and frequency is so high. But ironically, United States is not yet a Contracting Party to the convention on the law of the sea. I dont know how many people is aware of this. Let me ask you about hong kong. The Chinese Government has essentially imposed mainland law on hong kong with the National Security law. And the concern that ive heard from many western businessmen is that they are worried that if they were to go to hong kong, they could be picked up under this law by the Chinese Government and held in very much the way that two canadians have been picked up and are being held hostage. Will the Chinese Government, will beijing use this law to arrest people as regards to have defamed china, which is what the law allows it to do, if theyre in hong kong . You see, fareed, let me say this to you, our guiding policy for the government of hong kong is still one country two system. This has not changed. This will not change in the future. Hong kong is now part of china. We have to defend our own countrys unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is what is meant by one country. And within the framework of one country, on the basis of secure and stable one country, two systems can prosper in parallel, can prosper together. Thats what is meant by one country two systems. And the new law is intended just for that purpose. To maintain and safeguard one country two system, to make hong kong more stable, more secure for everybody, for the hong kong residents as well as for foreign investors. People could have a more predictable, safer environment to do their business in hong kong. Thats the real purpose of this law. And according to the basic law of hong kong, some of the National Laws do apply to hong kong when they are concerned with National Sovereignty and territory integrated unity, otherwise theres no country. But if people try to undermine or even destroy this very basis of one country, then there is no place for the two systems to operate. So, if people try to undermine one country, they are actually undermining the two systems as well. Let me ask you about the situation in xinjiang with the we uighur. You know senator Elizabeth Warren has said china is engaging in essentially forced population control, including sterilization and abortions. That this chinas actions in xinjiang constitute the Legal Definition of genocide. How do you respond to that . I think its very unfortunate people are placing their perceptions or judgment on reports of questionable sources. I could give you a real number. The population, the uighur population in xinjiang, has more than doubled in the last 40 years. So, the growth is much bigger than the population growth all over the country. And much bigger than the growth of the population of the han ethnic group. So, i dont know how people get all of these wrong numbers. The real number is the population has more than doubled in the last 40 years. Do you categorically deny there have been any mechanisms such as sterilization, any attempts at forced population control of the uighurs . I dont know how absurd all these fabrications can go. But that means you deny it . Of course. That was the Chinese Ambassador to washington, cui tiankai. We appreciate his time. To see more of this important interview on chinas Covid Response and on its view of donald trump, go to cnn. Com fareed. Coming up next, how these relations look to the former deputy secretary of the United States, tony blinken. You cant predict the future. But a resilient business can be ready for it. A Digital Foundation from vmware helps you redefine whats possible. Now. 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Because only tempurpedics proprietary material adapts and responds to your body. So you get deep, uninterrupted sleep. Experience our top selling tempuradapt, now only 1,999. groans hmph. food grunting menacingly when the food you love doesnt love you back, stay smooth and fight heartburn fast with tums smoothies. Tum tumtum tum tums a book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today lets keep the conversation on china going. Joining me now is antony blinken. Blinken was both the deputy of state and National Security adviser in the obama administration. Hes now senior Foreign Policy adviser to joe bidens president ial campaign. Let me start by asking you, what do you make of Donald Trumps rhetoric about china . Is this politics or is there a substantive issue here that required the ramping up of that rhetoric . Fareed, its great to be with you. I would say right now its rhetoric and politics and not more. Take this to 60,000 feet, and i just listened to ambassador cui as well. Were engaged in a serious competition with china. Competition could be a good thing but we want to make it a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. Thats a race well win if we start from a position of strength. Heres the problem, right now by virtually every key metric, chins strategic position is stronger and ours is weaker as a result of President Trumps leadership. Think about this, President Trump has helped china advance key strategic goals. Weakening our alliances, check. Leaving a vacuum in the world for china to fill, check. Abandoning our values and giving beijing a green light to trample human rights in xinjiang and hong kong, check. Worst of all, debasing our own democracy by attacking its institutions, its people, its values every single day every single day and reducing our appeal, and thats checkmate. The way were thinking about is it is this, at its core, the china challenge, and there is one, and its real, but that challenge is as much about us as it is about them. Its about the competitiveness of our economy and our workers. Its about our own democracy and political system. Its about our alliances and partnerships, all of which, unfortunately, President Trump has done so much to undermine. All of that is fully within our control. So, if we invest in ourselves, if we renew our democr