SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay. I want to get you guys some stuff. So you ready? Go ahead, go.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you had quite a long meeting here with —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.
QUESTION: — your Chinese counterpart.
QUESTION: That's okay. It went quite long. Is that —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.
QUESTION: Does that give the impression that the meeting was tense? And can you give us a sense of what you talked about?
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, we have to translate; translations always take longer, the back and forth.
QUESTION: Yeah. And give us a sense of what you talked about.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we talked a lot about the visit in September, and that was really the gist of it. It was just to create the groundwork for another positive visit. I think President Xi will have a very positive visit when he comes to Washington.
Look, these are the two most powerful countries in the world, particularly economics, but also - I mean, we have to have a relationship. And obviously, there are areas of great differences. Both sides will acknowledge that. We'll have to work through those. And I think these differences will exist for the foreseeable future, and our job is to sort of manage those so that they never get out of control.
We're, obviously, always going to defend our national interest. And I expect they'll do the same, as they define it. But I think there are some areas of potential cooperation. So the work we need to do between now and September is to identify what those areas are so that we can lay the groundwork for a very positive visit to Washington, and - in September. And so we talked a lot about that.
QUESTION: Was there disagreement on election interference?
SECRETARY RUBIO: We didn't discuss that topic.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, are China and Russia giving targeting information to Iran? These last few attacks have been very devastating to U.S. troops.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Look, all I would say is that anytime you're in a combat zone like that, there's danger associated with it. I mean, at the end, this actually proves the point that this is what Iran has been investing its money in for the last 20 years.
QUESTION: But are China and Russia giving targeting information to them?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I'm not going to discuss that, other than to say that nothing that's happened - no - nothing that China has done has in any way changed the trajectory of the - of what you're seeing in terms of the conflicts we're having with Iran. And in fact, in some cases, they've actually been quite cooperative —
QUESTION: In what way?
SECRETARY RUBIO: — in regards to what they potentially could have done but didn't do. I think the Chinese - and I'll let them tell you, but I don't think they're big fans of what Iran is trying to do in the straits. In fact, they've said so publicly, that they oppose tolling or any sort of restraint on freedom of navigation in the straits. And we hope they'll continue to say that, and it's important that other countries say that as well.
QUESTION: President Trump was asked a similar question, and I'd like to pose it to you. Is the U.S. strategy to strike Iran into submission? And why do you think Iran is not giving in right now after they —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, look, the United States is - Iran's in a lot of trouble. I mean, any day I - they obviously don't have a free press that reports on the - for example, you guys will report on the impact it's having on the U.S. economy and gas prices and this and that; they don't have that in Iran. But I can tell you they're facing hyperinflation, runaway inflation, high food costs. These were all pre-existing. They've all gotten worse. They've suffered a tremendous amount of damage to their military infrastructure, but they've also spent 20 years taking every penny they have and not spending it on their country. They spent it on sponsoring terrorist groups and building up their missiles and their drone systems. And this is the - what you're seeing them use now, which is greatly diminished, is exactly the conventional shield that they were going to hide behind to pursue a nuclear program and challenge the world to do anything about it or face the wrath of what they were doing. A year from now, Iran would have had so many missiles and drones that they would have been behind a conventional shield that would have given them immunity to do whatever they wanted.
So right now, however, I can just say here's what's happening. It's pretty straightforward. Ships are trying to go through the straits, and they're getting blown up. Commercial ships are going through the straits, and they're being blown up. The United States is defending that shipping and, in addition, is targeting the places that are launching against those ships to continue to degrade Iran's ability to target and harm global shipping. So that's what's happening here, and that's what we're focused on.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary —
QUESTION: You mentioned this morning that Iran isn't keeping its commitments. So even if a MOU is revived, what can be done to yield different results?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, look, all these things are compliance-based, right? I mean, if you make a deal, if you sign onto an agreement and then you violate the agreement, the agreement's no longer valid. That doesn't mean you can't have a future agreement, but ultimately, that future agreement will have to be judged on whether or not you're complying with the conditions. And that deal called for the opening of the straits, free and fair navigation. In fact, they were supposed to put out a statement to that regard a week and a half ago. And instead, on the day they were supposed to put out that statement, instead of doing that, they targeted and blew up or hit a ship.
So we remain open to diplomacy. We remain open to working it out in a negotiated way. But right now, they don't seem to be serious about that. And so we're going to continue to protect shipping. We think other countries should join us in that endeavor. We don't need them to, but they should, because they're more impacted by it than we are. And at the same time, we are going to, when the opportunity presents itself, degrade their ability to target global shipping.
QUESTION: China's been sending its coast guard in —
SECRETARY RUBIO: What now?
QUESTION: China has been sending its coast guard in toward Taiwan, doing patrols near Taiwan. I know the U.S. has said this has been destabilizing. Did you raise that with Wang Yi?
SECRETARY RUBIO: It always comes up in every one of our meetings because we obviously disagree with those actions. And we actually think that they run contrary to the spirit of what we're trying to work out with them with regards to strategic stability. But the bigger point to make in that regard is that the U.S. will continue to - we're never going to accept that international waterways are somehow under the control of other countries. We'll continue to sail through international waterways and freedom of navigation efforts of that kind, and we'll continue to live up to our commitments - for example, with the Philippines and other countries - in terms of the treaty commitments that we have.
And again, it speaks to areas of disagreement when it comes to our policies with China. Those need to be managed very carefully because obviously a conflict, be it economic or otherwise, between the U.S. and China would have a dramatic global impact. So the difficult job of geopolitics and foreign policy is managing your differences and not doing anything that runs contrary to our national interests, but at the same time trying to avoid conflict that could lead to something really catastrophic for the world. And I think we have an obligation to do that, which is why it's important for us to continue to talk to China, irrespective of our differences.
It's important to - if you go back to the height of the Cold War, even in the height of the Cold War, even in its most tense moments, the United States and the Soviet Union were - communicated, at least at a military-to-military level and even at a diplomatic level, and in many ways that prevented catastrophe. So I'm not saying we're at that stage with China, but what I am saying is it would, frankly, be reckless and irresponsible for the U.S. and China not to have a relationship, given the impact and the - our countries have on the global economy and on the world.
QUESTION: Did you discuss with China, with Minister Wang Yi, the working group, or any more details of the Board of Trade, Board of Investment, any of these other ideas?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yes, we did. We did, and we're moving towards implementation of that, and I think that's one of the potential concrete deliverables that we can have before September when that visit happens. And again, those are good ideas, and they come in the aftermath of the visit we took to China earlier this year. And so we did discuss that, yes.
QUESTION: Has the U.S. —
QUESTION: Russia's Lavrov revealed that he's going to be meeting with you tomorrow.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.
QUESTION: If that happens, are you going to press him on Ukraine, or are you simply keeping —
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, we're going to - I don't know if the term is "press him." We're going to talk about it. Obviously, the war in Ukraine, I think, has in many ways impeded the ability of Russia and the United States to find areas of agreement on other topics. That doesn't mean we won't seek to find other areas of potential cooperation.
But by the same token, we'd like to see that war come to an end. We think it would be good for Russia if that war came to an end. So we'll raise it. And as I said, the U.S. remains open and willing to play a constructive role in bringing that war to an end, if that opportunity presents itself. And it might. We're open to it, to playing that role, because we think right now - and I think the Russians would agree - we're probably the only country in the world that can play that role in that, in trying to bring that to an end.
QUESTION: What kind of role is the U.S. playing right now in doing that? I mean, there's still some kind of quiet talks going on or outreach by —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I think that you've seen it kind of fall off a little bit over the last few months. Perhaps there are now new conditions in place that will allow that conversation to happen. It's one of the things we'll explore tomorrow in our conversation. I saw the Foreign Minister Lavrov last night briefly. We didn't talk about any of this, but I saw him last night when he arrived at the opening dinner. And we'll talk more tomorrow.
Obviously, to be fair to you guys, I mean, a lot of the stuff I'll talk to him about, I'm not going to, like, put in a press release because it undermines the ability to find understandings. But we'll talk about it and see if there's an opening now or an opportunity for us to play a constructive role.
But there are other areas that the U.S. and Russia can cooperate on that we - again, going back to the point I made about China. This is very simple. Russia possesses the - we are the two largest nuclear-armed countries on the planet. For us not to talk would be reckless and irresponsible. We have to have a relationship with the Russian Government, even though we have areas of disagreement, and in the case of Ukraine, perhaps an opportunity to - if we can play a constructive role to bring it to an end. So I'm sure that'll come up tomorrow; there's no doubt. But we'll talk about some other stuff too.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary —
QUESTION: But The Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump has approved a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. Do you have any details on that?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I'm - I'll let the White House officials sort of put out an official statement about anything with regards to that. But I saw the same reporting this morning. But let me let that go through the - I don't - I'd prefer it be put out; when there is something to say, that we will say it through official channels.
QUESTION: Can you confirm that?
QUESTION: Has the U.S. asked South Korea or their Asian allies to contribute naval assets or something?
SECRETARY RUBIO: We didn't ask them that today. Look, I think it's to their benefit, right? If you look at the region, they heavily depend on oil and natural gas that comes from this part of the world.
Now, one of the interesting things you've seen is that the supplies that are reaching many of the countries in the region have begun to change. They're buying more LNG from us than ever before. They're also buying more oil from us than ever before. So I think some of the changes you have seen and where people are getting their energy are going to be permanent after what you've seen here.
But nonetheless, the straits remain an important source of energy for many of the countries in this region. It's about 20 percent of the global oil that's purchased. So I think we would - we think it would be to their benefit to participate in an effort.
QUESTION: But you didn't make that ask today in these conversations?
SECRETARY RUBIO: We didn't ask directly today, but we've had those conversations with them in the past. Every country has different restrictions on what they need to do in order to authorize that. Some have to get legislative approval. Some can do it unilaterally. Every country's different. But we've certainly raised it with different countries. We don't need them to do it, but we think it would be beneficial if they did.
And some of these countries have unique capabilities in terms of mine clearing and things of that nature. So it'd be great if they joined the effort, and I think some of them may eventually do so. It's in their interest to do so. But we didn't reach any agreement on that today. Frankly, it wasn't the cornerstone of what our conversations were about.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, a lot of the ASEAN countries have expressed how terrible the war in Iran is for them when it comes to economically and the energy crunch. But Israel's finance minister sort of struck a tone in a different direction, said that the tit-for-tat is actually the best possible situation for Israel because it's weakening Iran. Does this show that there are some differences between the United States and Israel when it comes to how they view this war? The United States is trying to end this. For the Israelis, the hostility is continuing. Is it their benefit?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, look, I can't comment on what some one individual in government said in Israel. I can just generally tell you that, by and large, we think that a nuclear-armed Iran is an unacceptable thing. It can't happen. And that's what they were going to do, if they hid behind this conventional shield that they were building. And the President just wasn't going to stand by and allow that to happen. Within two years, Iran could say: We're breaking out to a nuclear weapon; you can't do anything about it or we're going to overwhelm you with tens of thousands of drones and missiles, which they were on pace to build. They can't do that now. That's certainly weakened them.
As far as the impact it's had on the global economy, I mean, Iran is targeting global shipping in an international waterway and demanding to control which ships can go and which ones cannot. That just is unacceptable. We're not going to accept that. We're not going to allow that to be the status quo. But ultimately, there are other countries that should feel just as strongly as we do, because they're actually more impacted by it than we are.
QUESTION: Did you discuss with Minister Jaishankar - did he raise at all any concern by India about the tariffs announced by the President on generic drug makers? A lot of Americans buy their generic drugs from Indian companies that import. Is that something that came up in your discussions at all?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I mean, not with me. I mean, we didn't get into depth on pharmaceuticals today, obviously. I would expect them to be concerned about it, but they didn't raise it today. But they might have with others in our system, because we obviously deal with the Indians; we're very close to them. So —
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you and the President have been very blunt in your anti-communist language recently. You put out that recent report on Cuba. Don't you think it's inconsistent in that you haven't addressed the same issues with China? They're the largest communist party in the world, 100 million.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, but our issue is with communist interference inside of our country. That report was about what these different elements do to interfere in our country and to undermine our foreign policy.
QUESTION: But the President recently talked about China's election interference in the U.S., and as we know, there are many other ways in which China has influence within the U.S.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, again, what the President put out on Thursday that was a declassification of documents from our Intelligence Community - that's what he put out. He declassified intelligence assessments from our Intelligence Community. But your question was about communist influence. Yeah, the United States doesn't want to be a communist country. We're never going to be a communist country, and we're not going to allow communist influences to undermine our politics or our society.
So I don't know what the inconsistency you're referring to is. It's very clear. Obviously, we understand the Chinese system and other systems. But I can tell you our system doesn't want communism, and we're certainly not going to allow communist efforts to undermine American society and drive wedges into our country. And that's what we're seeing. And by the way, one of the leading culprits of that for many years, the intellectual authors have been, particularly in our hemisphere, is the Cuban regime, which our report on Monday outlined.
QUESTION: Are the Cubans having a bigger impact than the Chinese?
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, did you express concern regarding the clash between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Did we discuss it with —
QUESTION: Clash between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, yeah, it's been a high-profile issue. We've all seen it. And it's sort of an escalatory thing that we think is very negative and benefits no one. And obviously, we've reiterated in every meeting we've had that the U.S. has a treaty arrangement with the Philippines. I believe we're the only treaty partner the Philippines has. We intend to live up to our treaty obligations, and I think we've done so, and we'll continue to do so.
QUESTION: Secretary, the question —
QUESTION: With scenes of escalation, how difficult is it to inspire confidence at these meetings, such as the ones you've had today, that the U.S. can bring an end, a quick end, to the war in Iran?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I'm sorry, what was the —
QUESTION: Is it difficult to inspire confidence that the U.S. can swiftly and effectively end the war in Iran at these meetings?
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, I think everybody here understands that the U.S. would love to reach a diplomatic settlement. We would love to reach an agreement if it were possible with Iran that would ensure they never have a nuclear weapon and obviously help stop them. And we'd love to have an agreement where they say we'll no longer sponsor terrorism and we will not pursue a nuclear weapon or the things you need for a nuclear weapon. I think if there's a lack of confidence, it's the lack of confidence that the Iranian regime will ever agree to any of those things. That would be the lack of confidence. And the bigger lack of confidence should be that they've already made commitments very recently in a memorandum of understanding, and within two weeks they'd violated it. So I think if there's any undermining of confidence, it's confidence that the Iranian system as it currently is structured can reach an agreement. So you wonder whether they're serious about an agreement in the short term.
But look, we always - the President always prefers to negotiate and reach a deal on these things. And we're prepared - willing to do that. We've tried to do that now for a year and a half, but we're also not going to sit by and let ships be blown up or Americans be attacked.
QUESTION: Is there hope for a compromise?
QUESTION: If Iran refuses to negotiate seriously —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Who is this?
QUESTION: If Iran refuses to negotiate seriously —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Iran, yeah?
QUESTION: — what is the next step? More sanctions, more military actions? Are you prepared for long-term confrontation, all right?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the President has many options available to him if they continue to insist on not being cooperative, and I won't get ahead of the President on any of those. But I think Iran knows we have many options as well.
QUESTION: The President suggested that - give me a second - the President suggested that Iran should be added to Russia sanctions act. Is this kind of acknowledgment of Moscow-Tehran growing alliance?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Of what now?
QUESTION: I guess acknowledging this growing alliance between the two, because you're adding - suggesting to add Iran to Russia sanctions act?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, I just think the President views as a legislative vehicle that's going to pass in Congress and provides him more authorities to impose higher economic costs on Iran if it's necessary to do so. So I don't think it has - I don't - I think it's just a bill that's moving, and it's a sanctions bill, and so it makes sense if you're going to add additional sanctions to do it to that bill.
QUESTION: On Cuba, is the goal still creating regime change through economic collapse, or is the military option still on the table?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I think the goal is to have a Cuba where the people of Cuba can experience prosperity, safety, security, and a better life moving forward, the way Cubans are able to do all over the world when they leave Cuba. And we're prepared to be very realistic about how you do that, and patient about how - you got a serious process that leads to that. And we've engaged them from time to time in that regard, and they know where we stand on that issue, and hopefully that's where it arrives.
The fundamental Cuba - the fundamental problem Cuba has right now is two things. Number one is their economic system doesn't work because it - that economic system doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. It's completely backwards; it just doesn't work. And that's why people have to leave that country. And number two, it's they're no longer getting free oil from Venezuela. That's their biggest problem. They're not getting free oil from Venezuela - which, by the way, they weren't using for their power grid. They were taking about 60 percent of the free oil they were getting from Venezuela and reselling it for cash. So the biggest problem Cuba has is that the regime is a disaster, their economic model doesn't work, and the people who run the country don't know what the hell they're doing. And all they're most interested in is holding onto power. They are afraid of economic prosperity because they are afraid that economic prosperity and economic liberties will - they will lose control over people. And that's always been the struggle they've faced in recent times.
But again, look, we've been - just today we began shipping over $100 million of humanitarian assistance to Cuba which will be distributed by nongovernmental entities on the ground. So it - we'll - we're willing to engage with them; we've engaged with them in the past. We'll keep talking to them about the kind of changes they can make. But this is 90 miles from our shores. This is a government that has spent - a regime that has spent the better part of 30, 40, 50 years destabilizing the region in the movements that they've supported, and they've lost, I don't know, 10 to 15 percent of their population since 2021 because of how mismanaged the country is. We want it to have a better future, and we're prepared to do things that help them get there. But they have to decide they want to do that. The people that are in charge there right now just don't want to do it.
QUESTION: Several people in your administration were talking about how they expected the - just to follow up - to see regime change or to see big changes in Cuba - economic, political - by the end of this year. That's what a lot of them were saying consistently.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Who's "a lot of them?" Who was saying that?
QUESTION: People within the administration who work on this issue. They weren't —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Like who? Because I work on this issue more than anybody else, and I never said that.
QUESTION: They weren't predicting it, but, like, there was an expectation that Cuba was so weak that it was going to happen.
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, look, guys, I mean, you - look, this - global affairs are not like - we're not a miniseries, like, you get in three episodes and it's over. I mean, global affairs are difficult. You're talking about a system that's been in place since 1959. You talk about a country that's suffered tremendously because of poor leadership and a bad economic model. You're talking about a regime that's survived all these years because they had a foreign sponsor, be it the Soviet Union or Hugo Chávez. They don't have that anymore. So it's - these are complex things that take time, and obviously we're prepared to do what we can do to effectuate a positive change in Cuba because it directly impacts our national security. Cuba matters to us because it's 90 miles from our shores, and it has a direct impact on our national security - be it the things they've been involved in in the past, the countries they've aligned with in the past and currently, or the threat of mass migration, which is always a risk that you run when countries are as deeply destabilized as Cuba.
It's a failed state. It's a failed state. But I've never laid out any timeline as to what change would look like or when it would happen. I wish it was tomorrow because they deserve it; the people of Cuba deserve a better future.
QUESTION: You mentioned —
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, on your argument that Iran has violated the MOU, isn't the MOU inherently flawed because of paragraph five that explicitly acknowledges Iran has power in the Strait of Hormuz, whereas no other formal agreement before had acknowledged or recognized that?
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, I don't think that's what the MOU says, and it's not the way we interpreted it from the very beginning. We understood that to mean —
QUESTION: But isn't that the —
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, we understood that to mean that they would ensure that no ships were being blown up, and they chose to violate that. The MOU does not give them the right to launch drones and missiles against commercial shipping vessels. The MOU doesn't give them a right to do that. And they chose do it.
QUESTION: But why acknowledge their power over the strait to begin with?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we don't acknowledge their power, but - the only thing I'd tell you, that —
QUESTION: Or some authority.
SECRETARY RUBIO: No. They have missiles and drones and they're launching them against ships. The MOU doesn't say you're allowed to launch missiles and drones against commercial shipping in the Straits of Hormuz. It doesn't say that anywhere in the MOU.
QUESTION: You said that - you mentioned, Secretary, that China has been cooperative in some ways with the issue of Iran. What were you —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I'm not going to tell you about all of them, but I'm going to tell you one in particular, and that is they've been pretty clear that they don't support any tolling or restrictions on global shipping through an international waterway. And a statement like that from a country like China is important.
QUESTION: President Trump —
QUESTION: How concerning is the Houthi threat for the additional shipments of energy from the Saudis? Are you worried that that could have a —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the Houthis have done that in the past, as you know. They've threatened global shipping there in the past. And again, anything that restricts shipping through the Red Sea would be problematic, for the same reasons that the Strait of Hormuz is problematic. So we're watching that closely, that situation. We've been engaging the Saudis on - a number of times over the last week in regards to that threat. It's not a new threat, but it - it's one that's manifested itself in the past.
But at the gist of that issue is the fact that, again, Iran is in the middle of it. Talk about the troublemaker in the region - it's Iran. They chose - they decided to send direct flights from Tehran into Yemen carrying IRGC elements and others into the country, and the Saudis responded to it. And that's what led to the situation we're now facing. But we hope it can be de-escalated. Obviously, we're not particularly close to the Houthis in terms of being able to influence the decisions they make.
But I think it's just another example - the Houthis, Hizballah, the militias in Iraq, Hamas - this is what Iran spends its money on, this - not on its people. It's on supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing actors in the region.
QUESTION: You've mentioned a couple times that —
QUESTION: Are you satisfied with what China's —
QUESTION: — other countries should join the U.S. to protect shipping in the strait. Have you gotten any offers?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, because it's their shipping.
QUESTION: Have you gotten any offers?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, we've had conversations. There are countries that have expressed interest. Again, some of them have different ways they have to get there in terms of how it's authorized. Some need an international flag; they need to do it under the mandate of an international organization. Some need to go through the legislative process. But the reason why I mentioned it to you is because if you look at where that oil and you look at where that energy is destined, it's not to the United States. It's to other countries. And so - plus I think every country in the world has an interest in protecting the right of shipping in international waters and freedom of navigation.
QUESTION: I know you said you didn't want to get into the details on the Saudi civilian nuclear agreement, but just broadly, for people who have nonproliferation concerns, for people who listen to U.S. rhetoric about how dangerous it would be for another country to get a nuclear weapon, doesn't having a less-than-gold-standard agreement in the Middle East run a risk?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I'm not going to opine directly on that agreement. We're going to put out - if and when the moment is appropriate, we'll put out that in writing. We have to do it with Congress anyways, so we'll certainly do it publicly. But suffice it to say the U.S. is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation.
QUESTION: Did you discuss nonproliferation in the meeting with the Chinese or will you be bringing that up with Mr. Lavrov tomorrow?
SECRETARY RUBIO: On nuclear?
QUESTION: Yeah. Just - the President stopped at restarting talks.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we didn't talk about it this time. We've talked about it in the past, and I think the President's point - and he's right - is in the modern era, if we're going to have a nuclear arms restriction talks and arms control talks, it has to include the Chinese side, because they're rapidly building their own nuclear capabilities. I would imagine the Chinese will argue that once they catch up to the U.S. and Russia, then they'll enter these negotiations, but until then - I think that's been their historic argument in the past, but I think the President rightly points out that in the 21st century, if you're going to have true arms control, it has to be triparty. It has to be the U.S., Russia, but also China. But we didn't discuss it today.
QUESTION: Are you satisfied with what China's been doing on the fentanyl issue? It was the basis for a lot of tariffs that appear to be - they keep getting struck down —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we continue to talk to them about that issue, and, obviously, I think we've made some progress. They've - some of the commitments that they made in - earlier this year, they've begun to live by. Others are - remain a work in progress. And I know that as recently as today, our law enforcement is visiting China, and we've had their law enforcement come to Washington earlier in the year.
So we remain engaged with them, and ultimately, we think in the long term this poses a threat to China as well, so I would hope that they would have an interest in being cooperative. Because in the end, these same elements that are shipping fentanyl precursors all over the world will eventually do the same, if they're not doing it already, inside of China and their neighboring countries. So it's a work in progress, but I think we've made some progress on that front, but not entirely where we need to be.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, after —
QUESTION: Earlier you met with Japanese foreign minister.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yes.
QUESTION: China has (inaudible) its economic and military pressure on Japan. So how do you see the worsening of Japan-China relationship? How do see the - how do you view the worsening Japan-China —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, the worsening. Yeah. Yeah. So look, I mean, obviously, we're very close to Japan. We understand what they're facing right now. They're facing real restrictions, export controls and all sorts of things. And obviously, we talked about some of the aggressive measures that have been taken. It's a troubling trend. I don't think that China-Japan relations are at their high point right now. We're very close to Japan. We have treaty obligations with Japan. We have a deep history of cooperation with Japan, and that's going to continue. But we see it. We're concerned.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, after release - after securing one American's release from Iran last week, should Americans expect more detainees to come home, including our colleague Reza Valizadeh?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I think they should all be home. I can't - I'm not going to predict or prognosticate what others we may see released, but we would like to see them all - all the wrongfully detained people released, not just from Iran but all over the world. But it'll always be a priority in our conversations if and when those restart.
QUESTION: When are they —
QUESTION: How is that channel working? There's so much hostilities literally between Iran and the United States, yet you were able to —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Which channel?
QUESTION: The channel to get wrongfully detained people out obviously just bore some success. How is that happening amidst this warfare going on?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. I mean, look, I think that's a valid point. It - we were fortunate to see one instance in which one person who shouldn't have been there was - should not have been held there was released. We'd like to see more. It's a feature of our conversation with them. It would obviously be easier to have that conversation if some of these other things weren't ongoing. But I think the fact they were even detained to begin with speaks volumes as to the nature of the regime that we're dealing with. But - yeah, I mean, it's not the most productive moment for it, but we're very fortunate and blessed that that lady got out, because she never should have been held in the first place.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is there anything you can tell you about the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan?
SECRETARY RUBIO: About - I'm sorry? Well, there was one late last year, and the other one continues to be under review. As I said, we had the largest single sale ever in December, so it's not like nothing has happened. But since - there's a second pending sale that's been notified to Congress, but it's still undergoing a review internally.
QUESTION: But why - why is it under review? Your State Department sent it to Congress; Congress approved it informally.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, there's a lot of reasons. I know, but there's a lot of reasons why arms are under review, and that includes we have to look at our own stockpiles, we have to look at the availability of whatever it is we're promising to do; as you know, there's a huge effort on our part to restart our defense industrial base and restart its ability to produce - people ask this all the time. I mean, we've made very extensive sales and continue to make sales - for example, to Ukraine - and before that they were actually - we gave them to Ukraine. So all these things have an impact, and we do have our own domestic needs that have to be balanced with whatever commitments we make to other countries. So it would be normal for a large sale to be reviewed in that context.
QUESTION: Is the U.S. trying to get —
QUESTION: One of the Tate brothers' lawyers mentioned you by name. I know —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Who?
QUESTION: One of the Tate brothers' lawyers mentioned you by name. Do you have a plan to get involved with the extradition challenge that they have been appealing?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Mentioned me by name?
QUESTION: Yes. Yeah.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh. No, look, that - extraditions, I don't know the details of this particular case. I've been overseas, but I mean, I know who you're talking about.
QUESTION: Yeah.
SECRETARY RUBIO: I just don't know the details of it. These cases have a process that they go through in the courts. My understanding is that they're involved in that judicial process. And so that'll play itself out at this point. And - but there's no role for us to play at this moment or maybe ever in that regard. But it - I'm not going to opine on something that's still working through a legal process.
QUESTION: Is the U.S. trying to get Syria involved in fighting Hizballah?
QUESTION: Can you tell us a little bit about your strategy for the National Security Council?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Hold on. Go ahead.
QUESTION: Is the U.S. trying to get Syria involved in fighting Hizballah, as the President has suggested?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the Syrian authorities are not big fans of Hizballah. But what we've encouraged Syria to do is to focus on its own internal challenges that it has in sort of building a nation-state. They still face pretty substantial challenges and threats from within. I mean, ISIS remains a threat there. There are other areas of cooperation. As you know, we've removed them from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, which we hope will lead to the sort of economic revival that the country desperately needs.
Syria is a country that has a history of different communities for many, many years living alongside one another in peace - Sunni, Shia, Christian - I mean, it's a country - Kurds. And - but they have a huge project on their hands in that regard, and so we've encouraged them to focus on that. But we understand the threat that Hizballah - I mean, Hizballah is an enemy of this new government in Syria, and they in many ways have sought to - will seek to undermine that government over time. And one of the best things Syria can do to secure its future is to secure their border with Lebanon so that we don't have weapons and arms coming back and forth across that border in an effort to destabilize Syria.
What were you asking?
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, many national security advisors have put their stamp on the NSC bureaucracy - Scowcroft model; big, large models during the Obama administration. How do you want to be remembered for the stamp that you're putting on this? Are you streamlining things —
SECRETARY RUBIO: The NSC works for the President. And so the stamp we want to have is the stamp any NSC director should have. It's not my stamp. The NSC is there to serve the President. And each president will have different requirements for what they want the NSC's role to be. And so to the extent I want a legacy with regards to the NSC, it is an NSC that was responsive to the needs of this particular administration and this President's style of leadership. He's very hands-on, he's very involved, and our job at the NSC is to coordinate the interagency to execute on the President's policies. And that's how I view the NSC. That's the way it should always be.
QUESTION: Does it still have its convening power —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Sure, it happens every day.
QUESTION: — or has it been depopulated so much that other agencies are starting to —
SECRETARY RUBIO: I think the NSC was way too large to begin with - 400, 300 people. We don't need 300 people in the NSC to coordinate the interagency. That's why you have career people and others at the State Department, and at Treasury, and at Energy, and at the Department of War, and the intelligence agencies. And the job of the NSC is to coordinate the interagency so that it's executing on the President's foreign policy and developing options through the interagency. So the expertise should reside in the different agencies of government now. And the NSC's job is simply to be the coordinator of that effort, to deliver on the President's intent - either to present the President options, or to execute on the President's directive. That's what the NSC is doing, and I think, quite successfully. You don't need a large bureaucracy to do that.
QUESTION: There are Americans in China that have been wrongfully detained, Chen Youlin and Min Zin.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.
QUESTION: Did you raise those today? I mean —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we always raise the case of Americans, and we do so outside of these meetings as well. We do so through the embassy; we do it through multiple engagements.
QUESTION: Do you expect that China should release them ahead of or as part of the meeting?
SECRETARY RUBIO: We want them to. Well, we want them to. I won't precondition the meeting in September other than to say that we raise these issues every time, and we raise it not just - I mean, we raise it all the time. I mean, we raise it through the embassy; we raise it through every engagement we have. Those are always a priority. And we've had good news in the past, and hope to have some good news in the future.
QUESTION: Secretary —
SECRETARY RUBIO: All right, guys.
QUESTION: Has Min Zin been recognized as wrongfully detained? He mentioned Min Zin, but has he —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Who?
QUESTION: Min Zin, who was arrested right after the summit, right after the Trump-Xi summit.
SECRETARY RUBIO: The scientist?
QUESTION: He - no, not the scientist. He was a researcher, a scholar.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, the researcher, geologist.
QUESTION: Not geologist. He was researching for Myanmar, and he was arrested in Yunnan province. But has he been classified as wrongfully detained by the State Department?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I don't believe so yet.
QUESTION: Okay.
SECRETARY RUBIO: But again, we have a process we go through to make those determinations. That doesn't mean he won't be. We just - that process has to work its way through.
QUESTION: What is the overall approach, Secretary, to Myanmar and to potentially re-engaging with the junta there or cooperating on issues like rare earths?
SECRETARY RUBIO: What's the —
QUESTION: The position or the approach of the Trump Administration towards Myanmar and re-engagement with the government there?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, no - well, I don't have any announcement for you on that today. It's a policy that we're still developing in many ways. Obviously, there's some conditions that have been shifting with regards to Myanmar or Burma over the last few months that we're keeping an eye on and see if there's opportunities to engage. Obviously, we still have many concerns about some of the things that have happened in that country historically in the past. And there also remains the question of how receptive and open they are to a different relationship with the United States as well.
So these things are still being worked on, but I don't have any announcement on that today other than they were here and they were present today. And I'm glad they were here, and I said that in our forum. But it's not a place we have a long history of engagement in recent times. So if an opportunity presents itself to do something that serves our national interest, we'll explore it. But there's still some work to be done in that regard.
Okay, guys. Thanks.
QUESTION: Just - can you confirm that the White House will be announcing a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia today?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I don't have any news for you on that today. But maybe later today, once Washington wakes up or - if there is an announcement, I promise you you'll know about it, okay?
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Thank you.
SECRETARY RUBIO: That way.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir.
