During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) spoke about the Trump Administration cancelling funding for Radio Free Asia.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witnesses. Dr. Cha, you've spoken extensively
00:03about the alignment of some of our core adversaries, and as you just referenced in your
00:07opening statement, support from China, Iran, North Korea is absolutely critical to Russia's
00:13war effort against Ukraine. But many, I think, are now underestimating what these three countries
00:19are getting in return for that partnership. Could you just speak briefly to what North Korea
00:23is or could be gaining from their munitions support, their now active troop support,
00:29and the negative impacts this might be having in the Indo-Pacific region,
00:33and how our allies are viewing it and how they might step up?
00:37Sure, Senator. I think, I mean, your question really points to the fact that what is happening
00:42in the war in Ukraine has serious impact on what's happening in Indo-Pacific security as well.
00:48Initially, I think when the Biden administration publicized the first arms transfer to the Wagner
00:55group, we became very worried that this was the start of a relationship between these two that
01:01would only grow as Russia's need for munitions and troops also grew. Initially, we think that
01:07what was being provided was largely a lot of food and fuel and energy, things that were really
01:14stocked out in North Korea after a three and a half year lockdown from COVID. I mean, for North
01:19Korea, this opportunity with Russia emerged just as they were coming after a three and a half year
01:25COVID lockdown. So this was like a Christmas present for them. But the concern now is that
01:32it has moved beyond food, fuel, and energy, and medicines, to sort of higher end military
01:40technology. And I think if we track US government statements about this, they have moved from
01:44statements about the theoretical or hypothetical to a statement of fact. And we have seen this,
01:51I think, also in North Korea's own actions and demonstrations. Successful military satellite
01:58launches after successive failures, they became more successful after Kim Jong-un's first visit
02:04to Russia. So it's your view that North Korea is almost certainly receiving sophisticated
02:09missile, satellite, military assistance from Russia in exchange for their support? Yes. And
02:14the one I would in particular point to is potential nuclear propelled submarine technology,
02:20because the North Koreans put the leader in front of a new submarine and said, this is a
02:25nuclear powered submarine. So this is the one that I think has gotten the most attention recently.
02:30But yes, all those things. I have limited time. Let me, you also spoke about the critical role
02:34that Radio Free Asia provides. It's got a $60 million budget, but reaches 60 million people a
02:40week. Given upcoming elections in the Philippines, given our concern about soft power and influence
02:47in the region, Pacific Island nations, how wise or foolish is it that the administration just
02:54canceled Radio Free Asia? So again, I think our access basing and overflight strategy is directly
03:02related to competition in the information space, where China is creating these media partnerships
03:07all over the global south and creating a narrative of the United States that is clearly counter to
03:14our interests. So we need to be able to push back on that with real, accurate information,
03:18and that comes from places like VOA and RFA. Dr. Master, you spoke to the fact that the PRC
03:24is taking advantage of our abrupt withdrawal from hundreds of different development partnerships
03:31throughout the Indo-Pacific. Just speak, if you would, briefly to what kind of challenge you think
03:37it's creating for us and our strategic interests, for us to have abruptly canceled and shut down
03:43economic development partnerships, public health partnerships, things like providing
03:48reliable energy to our new basing opportunities in the Philippines, providing partnerships in
03:55terms of intel and communications security in the Philippines. What's the strategic impact to our
04:01abrupt withdrawal as partners for dozens and dozens of programs across these key countries?
04:08So, sir, I think the first thing to mention is if we are having a hard time assessing what is
04:12impactful for the competition with China or not, it's always useful to look at what the Chinese
04:16are spending on and what they're saying. So they spend eight times more than we do on public
04:20diplomacy, and as Dr. Cha already mentioned with all of their information centers with Xinhua and
04:26others, they're obviously extremely focused in this area. What's important for the Indo-Pacific
04:32is that a lot of these countries are not, it's very different than the NATO allies and partners
04:38in that many of these countries have a lot of incentives not to support the United States
04:42militarily. And so what we have on offer, if they're not threatened with direct invasion
04:46from China, of which even allies like Australia are not, what we have on offer are other things
04:52besides just that security cooperation. So when we build infrastructure, for example,
04:57in the Philippines, there's this understanding that with that foreign development and assistance,
05:01that type of infrastructure can be used by the Philippines when U.S. forces aren't there.
05:05And so without those types of commitments, there's a lot of countries that they put themselves at
05:10risk, that the threat from China becomes greater the more they cooperate with us.
05:14And so the only way to outbalance that is with the economic incentives, offering humanitarian aid,
05:20disaster relief, foreign development assistance. And that's why the Chinese are so focused on
05:25development assistance. And that's why the Chinese are so focused on those tools of power.
05:30Well, thank you. I think we're making an enormous mistake in unilaterally
05:34and abruptly shutting down longstanding humanitarian, economic development,
05:38infrastructure, and relief programs throughout the Indo-Pacific. Thank you.