Duckworth, Durbin Issued Statement Alongside Their Colleagues On President Trump And President Xi’s Summit In Washington
The Illinois senators joined Senate Democrats in criticizing the summit’s outcomes on trade, technology, Iran, Ukraine, Taiwan and human rights.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined their Senate Democrat colleagues in releasing the following statement after the conclusion of President Trump's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.
“Diplomacy with China remains vital to preventing conflict and protecting American interests, but it must ultimately produce results for hardworking Americans. President Trump’s summit today with President Xi Jinping failed to deliver. This outcome was predictable: Over the past 19 months, President Trump has systematically hollowed out the foundations of American competitiveness. The Trump Administration has traded away long-term technological dominance for short-term commercial gains, decimated the scientific and talent ecosystem that drives our domestic innovation and inflicted lasting damage on the network of global alliances that keep Americans safe, prosperous and free.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“At a time when Americans are struggling with rising costs of gas, electricity and groceries, President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi. Rather than confronting China’s unfair trade practices, technology theft, complicity in attacks against our troops or economic and military aggression against our allies, President Trump opted for pageantry over purpose—trading tough diplomacy for a ballroom tour and a lavish dinner with his billionaire friends.
“On the economic and security issues that will shape America’s future, this summit’s results fell short:
- Artificial Intelligence: The President cannot claim to defend American AI dominance while greenlighting sales of high-end chips and manufacturing equipment to China. Instead of establishing a framework to manage AI safety risks, the Trump Administration doubled down on its failure to implement and enforce meaningful guardrails at home.
- Trade and Critical Minerals: Extending the tariff truce is a temporary band-aid on a crisis of the President's own making. Airplane and agricultural deals do nothing to dismantle Beijing's state subsidies, including for Chinese cars; intellectual property theft; and near-monopoly on global rare earth refining. The Trump Administration has left our critical supply chains dangerously vulnerable.
- Iran: The United States should never have launched the reckless and illegal war against Iran. Beijing has exploited the conflict to purchase discounted Iranian oil, while U.S. munitions and strategic stockpiles have been expended at alarming rates. Even worse, President Trump failed to hold Xi accountable for support to Iran by Chinese companies that contributed to attacks against American soldiers, marking an unconscionable dereliction of his duty to protect our men and women in uniform.
- Russia’s War in Ukraine: The summit’s appeals for de-escalation do nothing to halt the flow of Chinese dual-use goods keeping Vladimir Putin’s war machine alive. If President Trump is serious about ending Putin’s war, he should honor Lindsey Graham’s memory by responsibly implementing the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. The Trump Administration must end its stunning year-and-a-half long failure to impose any sanctions to counter evasion in support of Russia’s war, including China’s dual-use exports to Moscow and preeminent purchases of Russian oil.
- Taiwan and Regional Security: America’s support for Taiwan’s self-defense is non-negotiable and crucial to preventing a cross-strait conflict that would destabilize the region and threaten the global economy. The Trump Administration must immediately deliver congressionally approved defense assistance to Taiwan, including the $1.3 billion in funds provided by this Congress, existing weapons sales and the $14 billion package of new arms sales approved nine months ago. To mitigate regional risk, the U.S. must stand with Indo-Pacific allies in combating PRC economic and military coercion as well as directly confront China’s renewed island-building in the South China Sea and increasing aggression in the East China Sea.
- Wrongfully Detained Americans: Protecting American citizens is a core national security obligation. President Trump has so far failed to secure the release of wrongfully detained U.S. citizens Min Zin and Dr. Youlin Chen; it is unclear if he pressed Xi on these urgent cases. Presidential appeals have produced results across U.S. administrations, and we urge President Trump to continue to prioritize the release of wrongfully detained Americans.
- Human Rights: Beijing’s repression is deepening across China and expanding beyond the PRC’s borders. Its new “ethnic unity” law codifies the forced assimilation of Tibetans and Uyghurs, while Beijing continues its transnational repression of Uyghur, Tibetan and Hong Kong activists, including here in the United States. Gulshan Abbas, Ekpar Asat, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu remain unjustly detained in China, while Jimmy Lai, 78, remains imprisoned in Hong Kong. Human rights cannot be an afterthought in our relationship with China.
“The American people deserve leaders who fight for their financial security and defend our national interests with purpose and measured strategy, not pageantry. We will compete successfully with China only through sustained investment in our own strengths, close coordination with allies and an unwavering defense of our democratic values. As we saw in May, this summit gave President Xi an international stage to project strength without a meaningful change in Beijing’s coercive economic practices or its support for our adversaries.”
Duckworth and Durbin were joined in the statement by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), all Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).
More like this:
- Most Popular
- Top Stories
- Most Recent
