Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace that former Vice President Joe Biden's comments about China seem disconnected from reality.
At a campaign event on Wednesday, Biden appeared to be dismissive of the growing threat that China poses to the United States.
"China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man," Biden said. "They're not bad folks, folks. But guess what? They're not competition for us."
Wallace asked Pompeo, "Does former Vice President Biden know something you don't?"
"Seems a little disconnected from the reality that is China today," Pompeo responded. "Maybe when he ran for president the first time this was the situation, but it certainly not today. China poses an enormous challenge to the United States of America."
Pompeo said China will overcome the United States but they are a formidable foe.
"I agree with him ultimately America will prevail, I'm confident in that, we should bet on our nation. But it's going to take a serious concerted effort, a president like President Trump who's prepared to push back against China, whether that be on trade or their military buildup or the theft of our intellectual property," Pompeo said. "We need a president who will be serious in protecting America against the challenges that China presents."
Trump and his administration has taken a hard line on China. His administration published a report that outlined the threat China poses America and the global economy:
The People’s Republic of China (China) has experienced rapid economic growth to become the world’s second largest economy while modernizing its industrial base and moving up the global value chain. However, much of this growth has been achieved in significant part through aggressive acts, policies, and practices that fall outside of global norms and rules (collectively, "economic aggression"). Given the size of China’s economy and the extent of its market-distorting policies, China’s economic aggression now threatens not only the U.S. economy but also the global economy as a whole.
The paper concludes "China’s acts, policies, and practices of economic aggression now targeting the technologies and IP of the world threaten not only the U.S. economy but also the global innovation system as a whole."