[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have a crisis here in the city of benton harbor, a water crisis. this water has been in a crisis longer than three years. th claim only three years but the water crisis here is worse thanhe flintmichigan crisis. they

brushing their teeth due to lead contamination. the problem has been known about for years. why is action only being taken now? we will speak to the rev. edward pinkney, the head of the benton harbor community water council, plus, the pediatrician, dr. mona hanna-attisha, who helped expose the flint water crisis seven years ago. >> it was not the first come the last, or the worst. the u.s. is slow to respect science and did not cease the use of lead pipes until 19 66. amy: plus, we talk to dr. mona about how the pandemic is impacting children. and we will look at the escalating tension between the united states andhina. >> while the west and washington are not to bme for their

actions in hong kong, when you have this overwhelmingly unified, nationalist message that washington is embracing around confronting china, this reinforces the same chauvinistic nationalist forces in china itself. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace rert. i'm amy goodman. west virginia senator joe manchin continues to thwart democrats' attempts to pass a historic, 10-year reconciliation package that that would vastly expand the social safety net and combat the climate crisis. manchin told the white house he opposes a key provision to replace coal- and gas-fired power plants with renewable energy sources, a central pillar of the build back better act's climate plans. senator manchin has received more campaign donaons from the

oil, coal and gas industries than any other senator. he has also earned millions in profits from coal companies created in the 1980's and that his son now runs. as manchin fights against plans to curb the worst effects of climate change, recently released data show his home state of west virginia is more vulnerable to worsening floods than anywhere else in the united states. this comes as this comes as indigenous leaders and climate activists capped off a week-long protest in d.c., friday, with a march on the u.s. capitol and a sit-in on pennsylvania avenue, and called again on president biden to declare a climate emergency. over 90 activists were arrested, bringing the total number of arrests during the week of action to 655. in more news about the stalled reconciliation package, axios is reporting joe manchin told the white house the plan's child tax credit must include a firm work requirement and income cap around $60,000 per family.

the expanded credit, which was passed in march in the american rescue plan, has lifted millions of american children out of poverty. studies show extending the credit beyond 2021 would cut child poverty even further, reducing it another 40%. on friday, biden touted the build back better act's provisions for working families while visiting a child care center in connecticut. president biden: how can we compete in a world when millions of moms cannot participate in the work was because they cannot afford childcare or eldercare, might i add. amy: a food and drug administration vaccine advisory panel unanimously approved booster shots for the johnson and johnson vaccine friday. the second shot can be given as early as two months after the initial vaccine. federal regulators will now meet to decide whether to green light the panel's recent recommendations on j&j and moderna boosters, as well as whether people should

mix-and-match vaccines. over 100 million people could be eligible for booster shots by the end of the week. a bronx man who was imprisoned at the rikers island jail complex died on friday from covid-19, one hour after a judge granted him conditional release. 64-year-old victor mercado is the 13th person to die in a new york city jail this year. in international news, britain is seeing a sharp rise in covid-19 cases, with over 45,000 new infections reported on sunday. that's the highest daily number in the u.k. since mid-july. russia is setting new daily records for cases and deaths, recording over 1,000 fatalities for the first time over the weekend. in australia, the city of melbourne is ending its lockdown this week after meeting its target of reaching a 70% vaccination rate. melbourne has been under lockdown longer than any other city in the world. in neighboring new zealand the

, country's largest city, auckland, will extend its strict lockdown for another two weeks. the u.s. has offered to pay compensation to the families of 10 afghan civilians who were killed in the august drone attack in kabul during the final days of the u.s. occupation. seven of the victims were children. the pentagon initially said the strikeverted an imminent threat by the islamic state and made other false claims around the attack. the pentagon, which did not specify the amount of the co-called "condolence payments," also said it would assist family members who wanted to relocate to the united states. in other news from afghanistan, the death toll from friday's explosions at a mosque in kandahar has risen to at least 47. the islamic state khorasan, known as isis-k, claimed responsibility for the attack. one local man lost loved ones at last week's attack as well as the mosque attack in kunduz one week earlier. >> for how long should we live

with blood and grief? what is our crime. we are shiites and afghans. what crime did we commit that we are suffering so much? we came here for prayersn iday. my brothers were martyred, my grandchildren were injured. for how long, for god's sake? amy: in more news fr afghanistan, a government spokesperson said girls will soon be allowed to return to secondary schools after being told to stay home following the taliban takeover. in the united kingdom, a man wielding a knife fatally stabbed long-time british member of parliament david amess, saturday, as he met with constituents at a church east of london. the metropolitan police said they arrested a 25-year-old british man of somali heritage and charged him with amess's murder. he was initially held under the u.k.'s terrorism act, and police have described the killing as a

terrorist incident. it was the first murder of a british mp since 2016, when anti-brexit politician jo cox was fatally shot and stabbed by a far-right white supremacist. a u.s.-based christian aid group in haiti says 17 missionaries and family members were kidnapped by a criminal gang saturday as they were leaving an orphanage in port-au-prince. one of the members was canadian, the rest were u.s. citizens. human rights groups warn kidnappings in haiti have tripled since the assassination of president jovenel moise in july and a devastating earthquake in august. in labor news, the union representing u.s. television and film production crews has reached a tentative agreement with an association of hollywood producers, averting a strike of some 60,000 workers just before a midnight deadline on saturday. a tentative deal brings members of iatse, the international alliance of theatrical stage employees, higher pay, longer

breaks, and better healthcare and pension benefits. some iatse members are opposing ratification of the contract, saying it doesn't go far enough to prevent short turnarounds between work assignments. immigrant justice advocates on saturday walked out of a virtual meeting with the biden administration to protest its plans to resume the contested trump-era "remain in mexico" program, formally known as migrant protection protocols, by mid-november. before leaving the meeting, advocates read a statement that said "it is not possible to make the inhumane humane, the unfair fair, or to breathe life into a deadly program. we refuse to be complicit in deterrence-based border policies." the move comes after the supreme court in august revived "remain in mexico.” the program forced some 70,000 asylum seekers to wait in often extremely dangerous conditions in mexico. “the financial times” reports china has test-fired a new, nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in a launch that reportedly caught u.s. intelligence by surprise.

china's foreign ministry denied the report. this comes as the biden administration and its allies have taken a more aggressive military posture toward china. last week, the u.s. and canada sent warships through the taiwan strait, drawing condemnation from the chinese military, which called the ships a threat to peace and stability in the region. that followed the incursion of about 150 chinese warplanes into airspace claimed by taiwan in early october. in hong kong, chinese authorities have sentenced seven more democracy campaigners to up to a year in prison over their roles in last year's protests against a national security law imposed by china. among those sentenced were two former legislators and a leader of the civil human rights front, a group that led massive protests in 2020 but was disbanded in august amid a police inquiry. in india, at least 26 people have died in massive landslides and floods triggered by days of torrential rains in the state of kerala. houses and bridges -- some that

connected to small villages -- were also washed away. some 180 rescue camps have been set up for the over 8,000 people who've been evacuated so far. an argentine judge has indicted a former spanish minister during the dictatorship of francisco franco on four counts of homicide. the judge also ordered the immediate arrest of martin villa, who lives in madrid, but said it was unlikely to happen. villa is accused of playing a key role in the brutal acts committed by the franco right-wing regime, which ruled spain until 1975 when franco died. tens of thousands of people were tortured, raped, killed, and disappeared. t in 1977, spain passed an amnesty law that pardoned crimes committed by the franco dictatorship. survivors and loved ones of franco's victims have attempted to override the legislation by bringing many of these cases to

courts in argentina under international law. in brazil, two indigenous yanomami children drowned last ek in a river where illegal gold miners operate. yanomami leaders said the children, who were seven and five yrs old, we sucked in a edger mache as they were bathing in the parima river. brazian officials wever alged the ys were caied awayy the riv's currts. followg the indent yanami leers, who f long have resist illegal mining, deforestion, and t destction of tir terriry called on far-right president jair bolsonaro to kick out the miners who've invaded yanomami land, the largest indigenous reservation in brazil. according to indigenous leaders, an estimated 20,000 illegal miners are currently in the region, polluting rivers with mercury that is used to separate gold from sand. in puerto rico, over 4,000 people took to the streets of san juan, friday, to protest

ongoing and worsening power outages and increases in energy costs following the u.s.-imposed privatization of the electricity grid. demonstrators chanted "get out luma!" as they shut down traffic on a main highway. luma, a u.s. and canadian company, took over puerto rico's transmission and distribution of power in june. residents of the island say the power cuts have damaged appliances and can be life-threatening to those who rely on certain medical machines. earlier this month, california congressmember katie porter grilled luma ceo wayne stensby during a virtual hearing. >> how many blackouts have been reported since la took over on june 1? >> the system has a large number

about a joe's. >> it is so big you cannot keep track of them all? >> there are outages evy single day. amy: congressmembers porter and raul grijalva have requested luma turn over multiple documents by the end of this week. texas is poised to enact a new anti-trans law after house bill 25 past both legislative change errors. your bill now heads to republican governor greg abbott's desk and went in at a band on transgender youth participating in school sports. former president donald trump is expected to sit for a video deposition today in a case that alleges his security guards assaulted protesters outside new york's trump tower 2015. at least 10 civil cases are pending against trump. in georgia, jury selection starts today in the trial of three white men accused of murdering ahmaud arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old black man

who was chased down and shot to death while out for a jog. over the weekend, community members and ahmaud arbery's family gathered outside of the glynn county courthouse for a pre-trial rally. another rally is planned for today. last month, former prosecutor jackie johnson was indicted and arrested for interfering with the investigation and trying to prevent the arrest of two of arbery's killers, greg mcmichael, a former police officer, as well as his son, travis. the mily of colin powell says the top u.s. general and former secretary has died from covid-19 . he was 84 years old. he served as secretary of state from 2001 until 2500 george w bush. powell, who was reportedly fully vaccinated, died at walter reed national medical center.

and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we go to michigan, where officials have warned residents in the predominantly black city of benton harbor to stop using tap water for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth due to lead contamination. the problem has been known about for years. why is action only being taken now? stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. officials in michigan have warned residents in the predominantly black city of benton harbor not to use tap

water for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth due to lead contamination. tap water in the city has contained lead levels up to 60 times the federal limit since 2018. advocates are calling for officials to declare a state of emergency and for the epa to intervene. free cases of water are being given out to households but some distribution sites don't have enough to meet the demand. michigan governor greg ocean witmer has vowed to remove and replace let knives in the city within 18 months payment up until recently, she said the process could take five years. his situation is being compared to the water crisis in flint, michigan that began in 2014 when the city's unelected emergency manager, appointed by then republican governor rick snyder, switched the city's water supply to the flint river as a cost-saving measure. the move has been linked to at least 12 deaths from an outbreak

of legionnaires' disease and widespread lead poisoning in residents, including children, in the majority-black city. i water crisis in benton harbor comes as congress is considering a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that includes $55 billion to replace lead pipes and other measures to ensure drinking water supplies. we are joined by two guests. dr. mona hanna-attisha is a flint-based pediatrician whose 2015 study revealed that flint's children had high levels of lead in their blood. and in benton harbor, we are joined by the rev. edward pinkney, president of the benton harbor community water council and the executive director of the black autonomy network community organization. rev. pinkney, let's begin with you. can you lay out the extent of the problem? you have taught state officials like the governor coming in thursday to say that they will deal with this, but this is

story, like flint, that has been going on for years. rev. pinkney: absolutely. and let me start at the beginning, with how all of this came about. how it came about, one of the benton harbor community members of the council took two jugs of water into the mor of benton harbor to let th know that in this one square block, everyone was this color. when he took it, he refused to look at it. when he didn't look at it, he brought it to me. i sent it to theniversity of michigan biological lab to be tested, and it ce back with over 300 parts per million of lead. that is how all of this started. we lped t city of benton harbor test thei water to make re they had at least 60 samples. they never had 60 samples at

this time, so we did it for them. if they don't have samples, they would be out of compliance with the state. if they havtheamples, they can say whether the water is bad or not. that is crucial. for three years, it was like this. no one said anything, i elected officials, governor officials, epa, body sd a word. what happened on september, we found a petition, a sta of emergency with the federal government. after filing that, they started to move. if we had not filed that petition, we would not be talking today, and may be another three or four years at the residence of benton harbor and would be drinking that tainted water, which is so

crucial. the governor couldave done nothing without that petition. also, this is an election year for her. let me say something about the bottled water ing distributed. 30,000 cases are being distribud in beon harbor, 25 thousand going to the surrounding areas. they are the ones coming to pick the war up. that is a major crisis we have to talk aboualso. yocannotay you are pting 30,000 cases of water into benton harbor but allows people in srounding areas to pick the water up. i am very upset about that. i cannot believe they di't have a better system to make sure everyone in benton harbor gets freshwater. amy: dr. mona hanna-attisha, you were the one that blew open the story of the lead poisoning of the people of flint.

again, we are talking about an overwhelmingly black city, flint and benton harbor. can you talk about what you feel the state of -- and federal government needs to do, and described the crisis right now in benton harbor? dr. hanna-attisha: great to be here with you, and great to be here with rev. pinkney. he has done so much work to elevate this issue. what a state and federal government needs to do, and i was one of those that signed the petition, is to share completely and transparently that the water is not safe right now, and to provide alternative water. right now, that is bottled water. maybe it needs to be home delivered. we need to work with the community, rev. pinkney, the folks on the ground, to make sure people have access to bottled water. every day that goes by when

there is lead in the water is one day to long for the children of benton harbor. amy: describe what happened in flint in the years as you exposed to this. this was under republican governor snyder. then talk about what is happening in benton harbor. dr. hanna-attisha: flint, as you meioned earlier, was under this bizarre state of usurp democracy, under emergency management, and austerity. that is how our water change from the great lakes to the flint river without proper treatment. for a year and a half, the people in flint, like benton harbor, were saying something is wrong with my water. moms would bring jugs of water to town hall meetings and they would be dismissed. finally, we brought science to the table, that kids were in

harm's way. there was a bit of backlash but the state finally conceded. now, in benton harbor, we have amazing folks that are also sharing, there is something wrong with our water. interestingly, benton harbor was also one of the cities in michigan that lost democracy, another city that was under emergency management. if you remember in michigan, at one point, half of our african-american population was under emergency management where there was unelected, unaccounble officials running these cities. let this be another lesson of the consequences of taking away people's democracy, taking away their voices. it impacts health. in benton harbor, it is hard to tell when the crisis happened, but for six consecutive sampling

periods, three and a half years, the lead in their water has exceeded the epa action level. that is not even a health based standard, just a compliance standard. that is an underestimation of the amount of lead that has been in the water and the potential harm it could be doing. amy: reverend edward pinkney, if you could talk about the two towns. it was written about beautifully years ago. it is a story of overwhelmingly african-american -- benton harbor, and the white, wealier st. joseph's. talk about the differee. rev. pinkney: there is a major difference when you talk about st. joseph, michigan. ey have nice and clean water.

at one time, they got their water from the city benton harbor. let say this. racism plays major part in this when i talk about it, can you imagine a white woman with a ba getting on the camera in front of the news media, telling the people that they had 889 parts per billion of leain the water and it is killing their bies? they would be sending out the army, fema, and everying. but benton harb, a black city, they think this can continue. if we had not filed that petition -- and i thank dr. mona for partnering with us. that was tremenus. we would not be talking about this today becau this is something they allowed. flint, michigan, benton harbor,

in their eyes, it is all right it is not all right. no city in the united states america should be suffering from water. water is life. you cannot live without water. racism is outstanding because nobody really cares. nobody cares about benton harbor. nobody ces about flint, michigan. flint still has the oblem they had years ago. we have to make re that we are doing what we are supposed to do, to make sure this never ever happens to another city. amy: many top state officials were indicted for what happened in flint. for example, the governor, rick snyder, was ultimately indicted. dr. mona hanna-attisha, if you could talk about what took place and explain what lead poisoning does, why children are

particularly vulnerable. dr. hanna-attisha: i will start with that. when i heard about the possibility of lead in the water in flint, my life changed. as a pediatrician, we know what lead does. it is and reversible, potent neurotoxin, especially affecting children, eroding cognition, lowers iq levels, impacts behavior and development, causing learning and attention problems, growth problems, hearing problems. we now know kids exposed to lead can have problems later in life including gout, alzheimer's, dementia. there is no safe level of lead, science has taught us. levels that we thought were ok decades ago we now know are not ok.

what we are supposed to be doing, the cdc, american academy of pediatrics, who, is this concept of primary prevention. we are supposed to find lead in the environment before the children are exposed. but for decades or centuries, we have failed at this. we have not had the political will to dig up those lead pipes, fix those old homes where there is still lead paint, clean the soil where we have lead in gasoline, and cap our children. lead is a classic form of environmental racism, as the reverend says, and we have known that for decades. children who are predominantly poor, predominantly people of color, are disproportionately burdened by environmental contamination. flint kids, just like detroit kids, chicago, philadelphia

kids, these are kids that already have higher rates of lead and are burdened with so many other toxicities of life that make it hard for them to be healthy and succeed. if we are serious about being antiracist, serious about eliminating inequities, one of the first things we need to be doing is getting rid of the lead in our environment. i am hopeful that the infrastructure bill will finally get rid of these poisonous -- you can think of them as poison straws. flint was just the tip of the iceberg. i spent half of my time working with other communities because the story keeps repeating. i hope this story in benton harbor is the last. we can make it the last if we pass the infrastructure bill. amy: i want to thank reverend edward pinkney for joining us,

and dr. mona hanna-aisha. i want you to stay on, as we move on to the issue of covid. you are a pediatrician in michigan, cochair of the protect michigan commission. i wanted to ask you about vaccines for children, as well as the pandemic. while much of the country is seeing a drop in hospitalizations, the pandemic has continued to worsen in michigan, with the highest rates of infection reportedly among 10- to 19-year-olds. this comes as the biden administration is launching a national vaccination campaign for about 28 million children between the ages of five and 11. pfizer's covid vaccine is already being given to children as young as 12 in the united states, and the company says a two-dose vaccine that is one-third as potent as the original vaccine is safe and effective for younger kids. this is president joe biden speaking last week. esidenbiden: we have purchased enough vaccines for

all children between the ages of five and 11 in the united states. it will be convenient for parents to get their children vaccinated in a trusted location. families will be able to sleep easier at night knowing their kids are protected as well. amy: dr. mona hanna-attisha, this comes as michigan has seen low vaccination rates since vaccines were made widely available for adults about ten months ago, and now michigan is seeing more than 3,500 new coronavirus cases a day, three days the daily average a year ago. last year, armed militants attacked the michigan capitol, and threatened to kidnap governor gretchen whitmer in a plot that stemmed from restrictions she put in place to protect michigan residents from the coronavirus. just last month, she reaed a budget deawith state lawmakers that includes language that would prevent her from implementing covid-19 vaccine mandates and mask rules for k-12 students. can you talk about the situation

in michigan? dr. hanna-attisha: as the rest of the country is starting to see a decrease from the delta variant, michigan is now starting to see that search -- surge. delta is more contagious and now it is this largely on vaccinated population of young children and young adults that are increasing in cases. it is frustrating in michigan. the governor's hands are largely tied because of the restrictions from both the michigan supreme court, and the michigan legislature. it is hard and i continue to be in disbelief. why wouldn't you want to protect people? why would you want to tie the arms of public health? this is a moment where we need good governance, leaders to do the hard things, to be driven by science. unfortunatelythere is so much opposition.

just like our public health leaders are under attack -- my inbox is often filled with anti-science messages from the times of flint and out from the anti-masking and anti-vaccine movement. now those messages are filled with vitriol, filled with racist and sexist messages. it is very difficult to be a public health leader right now. but as a pediatrician, we are super excited about the imminent authorization of the vaccine for younger children. amy: let's talk about masks and vaccines. k-12 schools without mask mandates in michigan saw 62% more coronavirus expired -- spread. now you have the possibility that children can be vaccinated. for the science of it, for those deeply concerned about vaccines, can you explain why you think children being vaccinated is

critical to stemming this pandemic? dr. hanna-attisha: absolutely. i cannot wait for those conversations, that we have already been having in our exam rooms. all we do as pete trish and's is give vaccines. this is what we do every single day. i want moms and dads to come into the office with questions. we talk about the science, the safety, the efficacy specifically of the covid vaccine. this is an amazing vaccine, it works really well, better than so many other vaccines we have. most importantly, it protects from serious illness and death. we have those conversations and we answer those questions. families have questions, as they said -- as they should. they want to build that trust in one-on-one conversations. we may not convince them in the

first visit but we might in the second or third visit. i talk about the science, how the benefits greatly outweigh any potential risks. what i often do in those exam visits is also sure that i trust the vaccine so much, my own children have gotten the vaccine. my kids are in the 12 to 15 age group. the first day it was authorized for that group, i had them on live tv getting the vaccine. i don't think we should all be using our children to get protected, but my kids wanted it. they want to go back to normal. they want to go back to school. they don't want to be quarantined. our children, even though we have not had many deaths, they have lost so much, time and education, parents, a huge impact on mental health. if we want to go back to normal,

it's important for our kids to get this vaccine. amy: i'm looking at a piece in the guardian that says four cities and states to prepare, the cdc sent out a document with guidance on how to set up expanded vaccination programs. it notes that pharmacies in every state can give covid shots to children but only doses prepared and packaged specifically for children are to be used for those under 12. explain the importance of that. dr. hanna-attisha: the dosing is smaller than the regular dose of the pfizer vaccine. there are also different storage issues, the number of vials. i, and the american academy of pediatrics, say that kids should go to their regular medical home, there. or, to get the vaccine. we have a trusted relationship. role of trust is huge during

covid, people's acceptance of the vaccine. going to the place where you usually get vaccines, getting your questions answered, and having it prepare in a place specifically where they know what to do with childhood vaccines. amy: advocates also calling for the government to do more to address racial disparities and obstacles that may emerge in vaccinating younger children, for example, kids may not get shots if parents cannot get off of work. dr. hanna-attisha: we absolutely have to address those barriers. those that are vaccine hesitant, vaccine resistant, we can work to address the vaccine hesitancy by overcoming those barriers, which in medicine we call the social determinants of health, addressing childcare, evening hours, getting transportation. we need hands on deck to improve

our vaccination rates and address all of these other barriers to health care amy: dr. mona hanna-attisha, thank you for being with us. she is a michigan state university professor, cochair of the protect michigan commission. she is also the author of "what the eyes don't see: a story of crisis, resistance, and hope in an american city." to see our coverage of the flint water crisis, you can go to democracynow.org to check out our documentary "thirsty for democracy: the poisoning of an american city." next, we look at the escalating tension between the united states, china, and taiwan. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today show looking at u.s.-china relations and growing , tensions between china and taiwan. the chinese military has condemned the united states for sending navy warships through the taiwan strait last week, accusing it of stoking regional tensions. u.s. allies britain and canada have also sent ships through the strait. this comes after china has recently conducted repeated air force missions into taiwan's air defense zone over the past year. for more, democracy now! co-host juan gonzalez and i spoke to

ethan paul last week, research associate at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft, former reporter with the "south china morning post" in hong kong. his recent piece is headlined, "biden doesn't understand the 'new cold war.'" today, we bring you part two of our conversation. i started by asking him about the cia has set up a new mission center focused solely on china, which cia director william burns describing china as the “most important geopolitical threat” facing the united states. ethan: nicholas burns announced that the china missionenter would be set up in the cia, which wld help frame the agency's overall approach, not only to china, but its overseas operations in general. i would say two things on this front. number one is that this is only the latest step by the biden administration, and going back

to the trump administration, and a broader effort to transform the federal government itself, to reorient itself around so-called competition with china. we have seen new institutions, new offices, organizations be created in the department of defense, department of justice, which has been accused of profilg asian and chinese-americans, department of commerce, and most recently, the steepartment and ci in thinking through what is going on her the metaphor i come back to is the federal government' response to 9/11s and the war on terror. what we saw in the years after that was a similar transformation. you saw the department of homeland securitbe created, powers be expanded for the nsa and other agencies. not only were these powers ultimately abused but it kind of

creates a momentum within the federal government itself that makes it difficult to reassess, think about, should we withdraw from afghanistan,raq? i worry that we will end up making these same mistakes as we set out on this so-called competition with china. the second quick point i would make is, not only is this transformation happening, but i have seen little to no meaningful dissent among democrats in the congress concerned about will there be any abuses of power here? move the cia and state department be setting their own china policies? ther have been no statements from congressional democrats talking about oversight and the need to make sure we don't let this be run out of control. this is very concerning to me. juan: when our leaders talk

about the geopolitical threat china, are they talkin about -- are they really talking about china threatening the united states, or are they talking about china challenging the continued world supremacy of u.s. economic power? it does not seem to me that there will be anything that will stop china at this point from eventually surpassing the economic production power of the united states, if only it has four times the population of the united states and is increasingly technologically advanced. ethan: i think you can look at the world and see clearly china itself is not a threat to the united states. china has no military bases in

our backyard, no alliances, we have these two wide oceans on our left and right, neighbors to our north and south. we are incredibly safe. you are right, what china is challenging is america's 75 years of global dominance, not only economically, but also in the asia-pacific. china has undergone a massive military modernization campaign. at the end of the day, this was inevitable. as countries like china and india rose, started to take on a greater share of economic growth, they were notably going to balance and pushback against the united states. the key question we have to ask oursves is, how are we going to ensure that this process ends well?

particularly for everyone in asia. i have not seen many americans in washington ask thselves ese questns. wonder if we are starting on an open ended, uncertain where we are headed competition, that is really about containing something which cannot be contained, which is china's economic and political influence. juan: talk about the republican party's transformation on this issue. it was richard nixon who initially normalized relations with china. many republican corporations have benefed over the past 50 years from opening up the china market, but you have people like tom cotton, nikki haley, marsha blackburn, other republican leaders increasingly calling for more confrontation with china. ethan: parts of the republican party are searching for what their post-trump identity might

look like. there is a significant portion, including the ones you mentioned, but also including congressman mike gallagher, senator josh hawley, there is a clique in congress that is basing their identity on confronting china. this is for a couple of reasons. one is, it gives the vision of american hegemony a new lease on life, another reason to keep existing. it also allows republicans to play up the racial conflict, which i think was at the heart of trump's presidency. at the end of the day, this goes beyond theepublican party. we are also seeinamong organizations like fox news, other right-wing media outts, a similar embrace of china as a new central theme of their identity, and their critique of

the left, here at home. what i would say is that this presents the greatest danger for the u.s. and china going forward. what i mean by that is, if a republican president is inevitably elected in a few years, i think they will turn the institution thatought it and trump left to them, and turn out the heat on china. china has been baked into their political identity. when you see a possible resident cotton, president haley, president blackburn, if they were to do something as to recognize taiwan unilaterally or some other destabilizing action that moves away from the status quo, that is when we would really see u.s.-china relations take a hot turn. i am not so worried under biden.

i am more worried about the direction the republican party will take it when they get back into power. amy: can you explain what the taiwan relations act is? ethan: in 1979, the u.s. and china establishediplomatic relations. for that to happen, the united states said we no longer recognize taipei as the government of china. we now recognize beijing. we acknowledge that the two sides have this political disagreement and would like to see it peacefully reunified. at the same time, there were some promises made to beijing about removing american troops, mutual defense treaty with taiwan, lowering as sales over time, et this taiwan relations actas

the congressional response to the deal that washington cut with beijing. congress said, we don't like this, we think this sells taiwan out, so the taiwan relations act dictates what the u.s. has been to taiwan since the 1980's, and that involves maintaining unofficial diplomatic relations with taiwan, continuum two cell military equipment, and being concerned if there was a unilateral change across the status quo. this is the foundation which has kept the stability across the taiwan strait for the last 40 years. it is now being eroded by both beijing and washington, and i think this is the hottest flashpoint for the two sides going forward. amy: talk about a transformation tang in place in the u.s. federal government, pentagon,

cia, department of justice, reorienting themselves, focusing much more on china, and what this means for policy and possibly from cold war to hot war. han: as i mentioned, going back to the trump administration, we saw various parts of the federal government transformed himself. the defense department opened up a new office focused on china. the department of justice and the fbi started what is called the china initiative which is to ferret out so-called chinese influence, academic and research institutions. we saw the department of commerce bolster its focus on china during the trade war. now during the biden administration, we have seen the state department announced new offices and institutions focused on china. recently, we have seen the cia. when the federal government is a massive institution, when all of

these transformations are happening simultaneously, it creates a momentum in policy, similar to the momentum we saw in the global war on terror, war in afghanistan, that makes it difficult for dissenting voices to be heard, for alternative perspectives on the relationship to be engaged, and ultimately for u.s. policy to be changed. but i would also note, this goes beyond just the federal government. you can also look at the air force and the military-industrial complex. they are also increasingly embracing china as a central part of its message. the air force secretary is famous for saying the weapons he wants are designed to scare china. companies like lockheed martin have embraced power competition as a way of selling the need for continuing funds fm congress. beyond that, we have seen a new

up-and-coming and legacy journalists and intellectuals, tech companies, academics, all almost overwhelmingly embrace this confrontational message that is being created around the china. i cannot emphasize this enough. there is little to no meaningful dissent about the direction that u.s. policy is being taken, what our goal is, how we are going to maintain stability and peace in asia over the long-term. this is particularly a problem, in my view, among democts in the house and senate. i know no democrats that have staked out a meaningful dissent position o china. there have been hundreds of bills introced, seeki to escalate tensions. i kn of no bills seeking to

relax or manage them. until thdemocratic party wakes up, there will be no one in washington who will be able to resist this. i think they may wake up and it is too late. juan: how do progressives, supporters of human rights, how are they able to oppose the crackdowns on democracy activists in hong kon, actions of china against the uighurs, while at the same time opposing the belligerence and confrontational policies toward u.s.-china relations? ethan: anyone who wants to see a world tt is not defined by a new cold war need to take a

direction that china has had it under xi jinping seriously. i lived in hong kong for a year after the national security law took effect. iaw with my own eyes how civil society, that had long existed, was being smothered slowly, day after day. ancient jane, we have seen a massive crime against humanity take place. at the end of the day, we need to be able to walk and chegum at the same time. beijing is increasingly brutal and how treats places like hong kong. at the same time, the kind of escalatory path we are heading on offers no future for the world. also, i would add, while the west in washington are not to blame for china's actions in hong kong and xianjiang, when

you have this overall unified nationalist message that washington is embracing around confronting china, this reinforces the same chaunistic, nationalist forces in china itself. that can contribute to an environment where china continues to crackdown in places like xianjiang and hong kong. going forward, we need to have a sort of hippocratic oath, find the best ways to adapting and mitigating the kinds of rights abuses china is doing without making it worse. one example. in the strategic competition act the senate passed, there are calls to liberalize america's visa policy toward hong kong. this to me would be a significant step, steps that

countries like australia, the u.k., canada have already taken, have more robust policies toward. at the same time, there are provisions in the bill that seek to allocate a couple million dollars to promote democracy in hong kong. avoiding this kind of outward appearance of interfering in what china views as its core internal affairs -- we knew to avoid doing stuff like that because it only securitize this hong kong in the eyes of beijing, only provides further justification for people like the hong kong security force t crackdown in hong kong. we need to think about h we can adapt to china's growing human rights abuses and inevitability of its power without doing further harm to those we are trying to help. amy: that is ethan paul, we will

live to his article. to see part one of the discussion, go to democracynow.org. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for two positions: a director of finance and administration and a humancc

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