CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
Interview
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Good morning. Thank you.
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Well, look, I, again, can't talk about what was discussed. Here's what I think I would take from that. I think the United States did exactly the right thing under these circumstances and would probably understand a little bit more. I think that in the final analysis, we can and will learn from this. And in the final situation, I think our country will be safer as a result.
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You know, the Pentagon was telling us that they were able to mitigate in real time as this was taking place. And I believe that that's accurate. I think the preeminent concern they had, as they expressed real time, was the safety of U.S. citizens with something this large. They described it publicly as something three times larger than a bus. Anywhere that falls with such a huge debris pile creates risk. And again, what we said previous, as this was happening, was, the fact that it was shot down over water gives you perhaps a greater opportunity to collect and maintain an intact system. And, again, we want to learn from what they were using.
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What - what surprised me when this happens is that - and as -- as you and I talked real time, this made no sense. Most collection is covert. It's, you know, cloak and dagger, trying to keep things quiet. This was a - the equivalent of an intelligence collecting device as a brass band driving down main street. There's no way you're going to hide this.
And it comes at a time when they were certainly trying to normalize relations.
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The two presidents had met. Secretary Blinken was about to meet with his counterpart. So, I raised the question then that it didn't make sense and - and perhaps this was, you know, someone in some (INAUDIBLE) forcing the Chinese president's hand on this.
But it doesn't make any sense. I'm concerned of what it means long term, the divisions within that government. But it's certainly something to be investigated.
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I am, and particularly because the Chinese government has been very aggressive. As you know, they're building islands to excerpt what areas that they claim that they have control over. There have been very aggressive tactics by the Chinese military toward U.S. military, and we have to be aware of that.
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So, look, this is an escalation at the worst possible time. Tensions were already high over issues like Taiwan, to TikTok, to so many other things. And we are well aware of the extraordinary aggression that China has taken.
There was a -- in Chicago, someone was sentenced in January to spying for the Chinese government. Going after our technology. So, clearly, this isn't a wakeup call. We're well aware of it. To me it is some odd situation that highlights these issues, but is still inexplicable for its timing and its manner.
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In some respects I'm equally concerned, but I'm more confident that we can address these issues. I think in the final analysis we have learned a great deal about this, and how to mitigate against this, and what kind of capabilities that do exist.
So, look, very concerned about Chinese hard surveillance and spying on our country. That's an ongoing threat. This particular incident, while deeply troubling and a violation of our sovereignty that needed to be treated as such, it may be, in the end, a gain for us, and understanding how they operate.
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Thank you.
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