{"id":166590,"date":"2023-09-10T15:06:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T22:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=166590"},"modified":"2023-09-10T15:06:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T22:06:11","slug":"president-bidens-press-conference-at-hanoi-hilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=166590","title":{"rendered":"President Biden&#8217;s Press Conference at Hanoi Hilton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hanoi, Vietnam&#8230;Good evening, everyone. It is evening, isn\u2019t it? (Laughter.) This around the world in five days is interesting, isn\u2019t it?  Well, you know, there is that \u2014 one of my staff members said, \u201cRemember the famous song, you know, \u2018Good Morning, Vietnam\u2019?\u201d Well, good evening, Vietnam. And good morning back in America.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Fullscreen-capture-9102023-30116-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"361\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-166591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Fullscreen-capture-9102023-30116-PM.jpg 640w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Fullscreen-capture-9102023-30116-PM-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Fullscreen-capture-9102023-30116-PM-123x70.jpg 123w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Fullscreen-capture-9102023-30116-PM-570x322.jpg 570w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-k9h_iUzz2A\" title=\"President Biden Holds a Press Conference\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Before we begin, I want to express my sadness by the loss of life and devastation caused by the earthquake in Morocco. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Morocco and my friend King Mohammed VII \u2014 VI, I should say.<\/p>\n<p>And his admini- \u2014 my administration \u2014 including Secretary of State Blinken, who is here with me today \u2014 is working with Moroccan officials on long distance here. We\u2019re working expeditiously to ensure American citizens in Morocco are safe, standing ready to provide any necessary assistance to the Moroccan people as well. We\u2019ve made that offer.<\/p>\n<p>Now, turning to the important visit here in Vietnam. As the General Secretary and I just shared earlier today, this trip has been a historic moment.<\/p>\n<p>Today, we can trace 50-year \u2014 a 50-year arc of progress in the relationship between our nations from conflict to normalization. This is a new elevated status that will be a force for prosperity and security in one of the most consequential regions in the world.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve elevated our cooperation directly to the Vietnamese\u2019s highest tier of partnership, referred to as the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. That means the United States has strengthened our ties with another critical Indo-Pacific partner.<\/p>\n<p>Our progress today builds on the Camp David trilateral with<br \/>\nJapan and \u2014 and the Republic of Korea and the United States; the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the United States launched with \u2014 with ASEAN last year; and the engagement with Pacific Islands \u2014 with the Pacific Islands Forum; our strengthened alliances with the Philippines; and AUKUS partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom; our elevated Quad engagement with India, Australia, and Japan; and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity; and all the effort we\u2019ve advanced from day one of my administration to demonstrate to our Indo-Pacific partners and to the world that the United States is a Pacific nation, and we\u2019re not going anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Now, let me also speak to a significant business we got done in the In- \u2014 in India during the G20 Summit.<\/p>\n<p>This was an important moment for the United States to demonstrate our global leadership and our commitment to solving the challenges that matter most to people around the world: investing in inclusive growth and sustainable development, addressing the climate crisis, strengthening food security and education, advancing global health and health security.<\/p>\n<p>We showed up ready to work, and we showed the world the United States is a partner with a positive vision for our shared future.<\/p>\n<p>As a G20, we \u2014 at the G20, we made progress on issues like multilateral development bank reform to get to those nations that are neither poor nor wealthy but were \u2014 couldn\u2019t qualify before; debt relief; and increased infrastructure needs not only in the Global South, but other parts of the world as well.<\/p>\n<p>We forged a groundbreaking new partnership with \u2014 that will connect India to Europe with the Middle East and Israel, with transportation by rail and by shipment through \u2014 and energy supplies and digital connections that are going to open up untold opportunities for transformative economic investment through that en- \u2014 on that entire corridor.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also discussed Russia\u2019s brutal and illegal war in Ukraine. And there was sufficient agreement in the room on the need for a just \u2014 for a just and lasting peace that upholds the principles of the U.N. Charter and respects sovereignty and territorial integrity.<\/p>\n<p>I want to, once again, thank Prime Minister Modi for his leadership and his hospitality in hosting the G20.<\/p>\n<p>He and I have had a substantial discussions about how we\u2019re going to continue to strengthen the partnership between India and the United States, building on the Prime Minister\u2019s visit to the White House last June.<\/p>\n<p>And, as I always do, I raised the important \u2014 of respecting human rights and the vital role that civil society and a free press have in building a strong and prosperous country with Mr. Modi.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re \u2014 have gotten a lot of important work done, and I\u2019m looking forward to another good day tomorrow here in Vietnam.<\/p>\n<p>And now, I will take your questions. Let me see. They told me \u2014 they gave me five people here.<\/p>\n<p>Nandita of \u2014 of Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>Q Hi. Thank you for taking my question, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Oh, there you are. I couldn\u2019t \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q Hi.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: \u2014 see you. I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n<p>Q Hi. Last week, China questioned the, quote, \u201csincerity\u201d of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: I\u2019m sorry, the what?<\/p>\n<p>Q The sincerity.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: The sincerity of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>Q Of the Biden administration. And accused the United States of containing China while pushing for diplomatic talks.<\/p>\n<p>How would you respond to that? And do you think President Xi is being sincere about getting the relationship back on track as he bans Apple in China?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, first of all, the \u2014 I am sincere about getting the relationship right. And one of the things that is going on now is China is beginning to change some of the rules of the game, in terms of trade and other issues.<\/p>\n<p>And so, one of the things we talked about, for example, is that they\u2019re now talking about making sure that no Chinese employ- \u2014 no one in the Chinese government can use a Western cell phone. Those kinds of things.<\/p>\n<p>And so, really, what this trip was about \u2014 it was less about containing China. I \u2014 I don\u2019t want to contain China. I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it\u2019s all about. And one of the ways you do that is you make sure that we are talking about the same things.<\/p>\n<p>And I think that one of the things we\u2019ve done \u2014 I\u2019ve tried to do, and I\u2019ve talked with a number of my staff about this for the last, I guess, six months \u2014 is \u2014 we have an opportunity to strengthen alliances around the world to maintain stability.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what this trip was all about: having India cooperate much more with the United States, be closer with the United States, Vietnam being closer with the United States. It\u2019s not about containing China; it\u2019s about having a stable base \u2014 a stable base in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s \u2014 for example, when I was spending a lot of time talking with President Xi, he asked why we were doing \u2014 why was I going to have the Quad \u2014 meaning Australia, India, Japan, and the United States? And I said, \u201cTo maintain stability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not about isolating China. It\u2019s about making sure the rules of the road \u2014 everything from airspace and \u2014 and space and in the ocean is \u2014 the international rules of the road are \u2014 are \u2014 are abided by.<\/p>\n<p>And so \u2014 and I hope that \u2014 I think that Prime Minister Xi \u2014 I mean, Xi has some \u2014 some difficulties right now. All countries end up with difficulties, and he had some economic difficulties he\u2019s working his way through.<\/p>\n<p>I \u2014 I want to see China succeed economically, but I want to see them succeed by the rules.<\/p>\n<p>The next question was to Bloomberg.<\/p>\n<p>Q Hi, Mr. President. Following up on your comments on China and the economy, you recently called China\u2019s economy a \u201cticking time bomb.\u201d Do you believe the country\u2019s slowdown could risk destabilizing the global economy or causing China to be more aggressive defensively, including with \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Say the first part of your question again. Because there \u2014 this fan is going on, and it\u2019s loud behind me.<\/p>\n<p>Q No worries. Do you believe the country\u2019s slowdown and growth could risk destabilizing the global economy or cause China to be more aggressive defensively, including with Taiwan?<\/p>\n<p>And separately, sir, are you worried about the meeting between President Putin and Kim Jong Un, if that could mean Russia has more gains in the war in Ukraine?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Look, I think China has a difficult economic problem right now for a whole range of reasons that relate to the international growth and lack thereof and the \u2014 the policies that China has followed.<\/p>\n<p>And so, I \u2014 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to cause China to invade Taiwan. And matter of fact, the opposite \u2014 it probably doesn\u2019t have the \u2014 the same capacity that it had before.<\/p>\n<p>But as I said, I\u2019m not \u2014 we\u2019re not looking to hurt China, sincerely. We\u2019re all better off if China does well \u2014 if China does well by the international rules. It grows the economy.<\/p>\n<p>But they have had some real difficulty in terms of their economy of late, particularly in real estate. Asi- \u2014 that end of the bargain. And I think the actions that they\u2019re going to have to take are ones that are \u2014 they\u2019re in the process of deciding right now. And I\u2019m not going to predict what \u2014 what \u2014 what way it will come out. But we\u2019re not looking to decouple from China.<\/p>\n<p>What I\u2019m not going to do is I\u2019m not going to sell China material that would enhance their capacity to make more nuclear weapons, to engage in defense activities that are contrary to what is viewed as most people would think was a positive development in the region.<\/p>\n<p>And \u2014 but we\u2019re not trying to hurt China.<\/p>\n<p>Okay. Let\u2019s \u2014 BBC. Laura? Am I correct? Is that correct \u2014 Laura?<\/p>\n<p>Q It is. My name is Laura Bicker. I\u2019m from BBC News. Good evening, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Good evening.<\/p>\n<p>Q How are you?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Well. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q Good.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: These five-day trips around the world are no problem.<\/p>\n<p>Q I can imagine. It is evening, I\u2019d like to remind you. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>I mean, in the last six months, you\u2019ve signed pacts and deals with Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, and even the Pacific Islands. You\u2019re here, standing in Beijing\u2019s backyard. You know, China says this is part of your Cold War mentality. Are they right, sir? Are they right, Mr. President? Is it a danger of a Cold War? And when will you meet Mr. Xi?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Well, I hope I get to see Mr. Xi sooner than later. I\u2019ve spent more time with him than any other world leader has, sum total, over the last 12 years. So, I hope we get to see him again soon.<\/p>\n<p>But, no, look \u2014 for example, one of the things we did in \u2014 in India: We provided for a new path that\u2019s going to save everybody money, increase the Third World \u2014 \u201cthe Third World\u201d \u2014 the \u2014 the Global South\u2019s capacity to grow by sending \u2014 we\u2019re going to \u2014 from \u2014 we\u2019re going to have a new railroad from India all the way across to the Mediterranean, new shipping lanes and pipelines across the Mediterranean through Europe, up into \u2014 up into Great Britain and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all about economic growth. That has nothing to do with hurting China or helping China. It has to do with dealing with everything from climate change to making sure that these countries can succeed economically and grow.<\/p>\n<p>Look, my thesis has been, from the beginning, both domestically and in \u2014 in terms of foreign policy: Invest in your people. Invest in the people. Give them a chance.<\/p>\n<p>Everything is better off when people \u2014 I know it\u2019s going to sound trite. If everybody in the world had a job they get up in the morning and wanted to go to and thought they \u2014 and they could put three squares in the table for their family, no matter where they live, the whole world be better off. We\u2019d be a lot better. That\u2019s the notion here behind this.<\/p>\n<p>For example, you know, one of the things we\u2019re doing in terms of \u2014 I \u2014 I proposed a long time ago at the G7, now it\u2019s \u2014 that\u2019s going to come to fruition at the G20, is making sure that we build a railroad all the way across the African continent.<\/p>\n<p>Think about it. There is no way to cross the African continent by ro- \u2014 by \u2014 by rail. And there\u2019s not even a direct highway across.<\/p>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s assume for the sake of discussion \u2014 when we talk about food shortages \u2014 assume there was one country in that vast continent that had a \u2014 an excess of \u2014 of foodstuffs and resources. How would they get it to where they\u2019re going to go? How are they going to do it?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we\u2019re also going to invest billions of dollars in solar facilities in Angola to have the largest an- \u2014 the largest solar facility in the world \u2014 among the largest. That helps Angola, but it also helps the whole region.<\/p>\n<p>So, I think we think too \u2014 too much in terms of Cold War terms. It\u2019s not about that. It\u2019s about generating economic growth and stability in all parts of the world. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do.<\/p>\n<p>Sorry. Okay. Am I pronouncing it \u2014 Auvelia [Aurelia]? Did I pronounce the name correctly? There you are.<\/p>\n<p>Q Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q It\u2019s Aurelia End for AFP. I had a question on the climate crisis. You just mentioned the G20. Just this week, the United States warned that if there is no phasing out of fossil fuels, it won\u2019t be possible to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. There was no agreement at the G20 on fossil fuels. How concerned are you about this lack of consensus?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: It wasn\u2019t so much an agreement that we would try to meet the goals at the G20. The United States is going to meet those goals, by the way. We\u2019re going to exceed those goals. A lot of other countries are as well.<\/p>\n<p>But we want to give those countries that don\u2019t have the economic wherewithal and did not cause the problem in the first place \u2014 for example, I met with Lula in Brazil.<\/p>\n<p>I started off way back in the \u201880s with a fairly fine Republican senator named Dick Lugar. We said, \u201cHere\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. If you owe us money, we\u2019re going to forgive your debt if you maintain your forest.\u201d Because they become carbon sinks. They\u2019re the things that take carbon out of the air.<\/p>\n<p>And so, we\u2019re talking to what we should be go \u2014 and the countries that cleared their land and put cattle on there and farming and \u2014 and did all the things that \u2014 and increased development, they, in fact, are the ones \u2014 the reasons why \u2014 the main reason why we\u2019ve gotten as far down the road to disaster here as we have.<\/p>\n<p>And so, it seems \u2014 and if we have the economic capacity, we \u2014 those nations should be getting together and providing help for the nations that don\u2019t have the wherewithal to do it \u2014 the economic wherewithal and the infrastructure wherewithal.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s why, for example, I mentioned \u2014 in the interest of time, I\u2019ll just mention Angola again. Angola has the capacity to generate megawatts of energy through solar energy. They don\u2019t have the \u2014 the economic means to do that. Isn\u2019t it in the interest of the whole world if they are, in fact, able to generate significant capacity to absorb \u2014 to prevent carbon from being released in the air? I think that it is.<\/p>\n<p>So, what we\u2019re trying to do is help those nations. The \u2014 and particularly in the Global South, where they\u2019re not as wealthy, where there are not as many opportunities to be able to deal with the things that they want to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>For example \u2014 and I\u2019ll end with this \u2014 there is more carbon absor- \u2014 absorbed from the atmosphere on a daily basis \u2014 and I\u2019ll look to my \u2014 my friend, John Kerry, who\u2019d forgotten more about this than most people know \u2014 correct me if I get this wrong, John, but I\u2019m quite sure I\u2019m right \u2014 and that is that there\u2019s more carbon observed [absorbed] from the air into the Amazon region into the ground \u2014 the ground \u2014 than emitted in the entire United States on the same basis.<\/p>\n<p>Now, imagine if people go in and do what we did 150, 200, 250 years ago and cut down the forest and the \u2014 start farming in that area, no longer have that great carbon sink. We \u2014 you know, it\u2019s going \u2014 it would be a gigantic problem.<\/p>\n<p>So, we should be going to areas, whether it\u2019s in the Congo or other places, as \u2014 as the G7 nations and as the wealthy G20 nations, the \u2014 and providing the kind of infrastructure they need to be able to benefit.<\/p>\n<p>And guess what? In addition to helping the environment overall \u2014 and the only existential threat humanity faces even more frightening than a \u2014 than a nuclear war is global warming going above 1.5 degrees in the next 20 \u2014 10 years. We\u2019re \u2014 that\u2019d be real trouble. There\u2019s no way back from that.<\/p>\n<p>And so, there\u2019s a lot we can do in the meantime. For example, that \u2014 that pipeline \u2014 that railroad we\u2019re talking about going across from the middle \u2014 from India, throughout the Middle East, and to \u2014 across the Mediterranean and all through Europe, that\u2019s going to have a hydrogen pipeline there. This is going to significantly reduce the amount of carbon emitted in the air, but it costs a lot of money to put that down. And the world is going to say it\u2019s in our interest \u2014 collective interest to do it.<\/p>\n<p>So, I have not \u2014 I have not given up at all on the notion that we\u2019re going to be able to, you know \u2014 how can I say it? I \u2014 I think \u2014 I think we can triple the renewable capacity for \u2014 as it relates to global warming \u2014 by the year 20- \u2014 2030 \u2014 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Countries following the IRA playbook, which is the one we passed \u2014 the clean energy jobs, they\u2019re going to create manufacturing jobs.<\/p>\n<p>For example, as a consequence of what we\u2019ve done, we \u2014 we have the most \u2014 we have the most e- \u2014 we have the strongest economy in the world today. Right now, today, the United States of America has the strongest economy in the world \u2014 in the world. Now, we\u2019ve got more to do, but we have the strongest economy in the world.<\/p>\n<p>And one of the reasons we\u2019re doing it \u2014 we changed the mechanism of how we deal with this. And that is instead of trickle-down economy \u2014 that is if the wealthy and the corporations do very well, everybody is going to do well.<\/p>\n<p>Well, the truth of the matter is: I\u2019ve never bought that theory. But I think the times have changed, and a lot of leading economists are beginning to agree with me \u2014 just flat, straight-out academic economists \u2014 and that is: We should build economic growth from the middle out and the bottom up.<\/p>\n<p>When that happens, everybody does well. Everybody does well. The wealthy still do very, very well. They have no problem. You can still be a billionaire under that system as well. But you\u2019re going to start paying your taxes if I have anything to do it. That\u2019s a different issue.<\/p>\n<p>But all kidding aside \u2014 so, there\u2019s \u2014 we have \u2014 I think the other thing that\u2019s dawning on people \u2014 many of you who are e- \u2014 foreign policy experts have been engaged for a long time. Did you ever think you\u2019d be sitting at a G20 conference where everyone was preoccupied with the notion of global warming? Not a joke. Did you ever think that?<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s a \u2014 my \u2014 my brother loves having \u2014 there\u2019s famous lines from movies that he always quotes. You know, it\u2019s \u2014 and one \u2014 one of them is \u2014 there\u2019s \u2014 there\u2019s a movie about John Wayne. He\u2019s an Indian scout. And they\u2019re trying to get the Ap- \u2014 I think it was the Apache \u2014 one \u2014 one of the great tribes of America back on the reservation.<\/p>\n<p>And he\u2019s standing with a Union so- \u2014 so he\u2019s \u2014 they\u2019re all on their \u2014 and they\u2019re on their horses in their saddles. And there\u2019s three or four Indians in headdresses, and the Union soldiers \u2014 and the Union soldiers are basically saying to the Indians, \u201cCome with me, we\u2019ll take care of you. We\u2019ll \u2014 everything will be good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the Indian scou- \u2014 the Indian looks at John Wayne and points to the Union soldier and says, \u201cHe\u2019s a lying, dog-faced pony soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, there\u2019s a lot of lying, dog-faced pony soldiers out there about \u2014 about global warming, but not anymore. All of a sudden, they\u2019re all realizing it\u2019s a problem. And there\u2019s nothing like seeing the light.<\/p>\n<p>For \u2014 and let\u2019s see. I\u2019m just following my orders here.<\/p>\n<p>Staff, is there anybody I haven\u2019t spoken to?<\/p>\n<p>(Cross-talk.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: No, I ain\u2019t calling on you. I\u2019m calling on \u2014 I said there were five questions.<\/p>\n<p>MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Anita \u2014 Anita from VOA.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Anita from VOA.<\/p>\n<p>Q Thank you, Mr. President. I hope you didn\u2019t think that calling only on woman would get you softballs tonight. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I know better than that.<\/p>\n<p>Q Okay. Well, let me start with President Xi \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: If you send me a softball, I wouldn\u2019t know what to do with it. I\u2019d probably strike out even worse.<\/p>\n<p>Q Well, let me ask you about \u2014 you \u2014 you\u2019ve spent lots of time talking about all the time you spent with President Xi and the importance of leader-to-leader communication, yet you two haven\u2019t spoken in 10 months. And I just wonder, are you worried that this is destabilizing the U.S.-China relationship? And what are you going to do about it?<\/p>\n<p>And then, if I may on Ukraine, sir. Kyiv is ups- \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>Q \u2014 is upset that the G20 communiqu\u00e9 didn\u2019t named Russia as the aggressor. Have you managed to rally more support or sympathy across the G20, or is this emerging as a wedge issue with the Global South? And does that change your commitment to Ukraine?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: It\u2019s not a wedge issue of the Global South. It\u2019s a wedge issue with Russia, which was present, and with China, which was present \u2014 which was \u2014 had the representation.<\/p>\n<p>And so \u2014 and, by the way, I am a \u2014 my \u2014 my team, my staff still meets with President Xi\u2019s people and his Cabinet, and, in effect, I met with his number-two person here in \u2014 excuse me, in India today.<\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s not like there\u2019s a \u2014 a crisis if I don\u2019t personally speak to him. It would be better if I did, but I think \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Look, this is not a criticism; it\u2019s an observation: He has his hands full right now. He has overwhelming unemployment with his youth. One of the major economic tenets of his plan isn\u2019t working at all right now. I\u2019m not happy for that. But it\u2019s not working.<\/p>\n<p>So, he\u2019s trying to figure out, I suspect \u2014 I don\u2019t know \u2014 just like I would, trying to figure out what to do about the particular crisis they\u2019re having now.<\/p>\n<p>But I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a crisis relating to conflict between China and the United States.<\/p>\n<p>As a matter of fact, I think it\u2019s less likely to cause that kind of conflict. I don\u2019t \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I just think that there are other things on leaders\u2019 minds, and they respond to what\u2019s needed at the time.<\/p>\n<p>And look, nobody likes having celebrated international meetings if you don\u2019t know what you want at the meeting,<br \/>\nif you don\u2019t have a gameplan. He may have a gameplan; he just hasn\u2019t shared it with me.<\/p>\n<p>But I tell you what, I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m going to go to bed.<\/p>\n<p>Q What did you talk about with Mr. Li? You said you spoke to the number two from China, who wa- \u2014 in India today?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we ta- \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q What did you talk about with him?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: We talked about what we talked about at the conference overall. We talked about stability. We talked about making sure that the Third World \u2014 the \u2014 excuse me \u2014 \u201cThird World\u201d \u2014 the \u2014 the \u2014 the Southern Hemisphere had access to change, it had access \u2014<\/p>\n<p>We \u2014 it wasn\u2019t confrontational at all. He came up to me. He said (inaudible) \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank \u2014 thank you, everybody.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MS. JEAN-PIERRE: This ends the cou- \u2014 press conference. Thanks, everyone.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>(Cross-talk.)<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, are you putting U.S. strategic interests above human rights here in Vietnam?<\/p>\n<p>Q You have time for one more. We came all this way. We came all this way.<\/p>\n<p>Q Are you putting U.S. strategic interests above human rights here in Vietnam?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: (Inaudible) above human rights, and I\u2019ve raised it with every person I met with.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hanoi, Vietnam&#8230;Good evening, everyone. It is evening, isn\u2019t it? (Laughter.) This around the world in five days is interesting, isn\u2019t it? Well, you know, there is that \u2014 one of my staff members said, \u201cRemember the famous song, you know, \u2018Good Morning, Vietnam\u2019?\u201d Well, good evening, Vietnam. And good morning back in America. Before we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Fullscreen-capture-9102023-30116-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=166590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166592,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166590\/revisions\/166592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/166591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=166590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=166590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=166590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}