Transcript of Ranking Member Ro Khanna’s Remarks at Asia Society on U.S.-China AI Agreement Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting

NEW YORK – Today, Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, delivered remarks outlining his vision for the future of U.S. strategy toward China, including U.S.-China safeguards to prevent the loss of human control of AI, American economic competitiveness, effective deterrence, and the role of diplomacy in managing strategic competition. 

Khanna delivered the remarks at Asia Society in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, as leaders from around the world gather to address shared global challenges and the future of international cooperation. His remarks also addressed the need for economic rebalancing and moral leadership in diplomacy and development around the world.

Following his remarks, Ranking Member Khanna joined the Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd AC, Global President and CEO of Asia Society and the 26th Prime Minister of Australia, for a fireside conversation on how the United States and China can manage sustained strategic competition, reduce the risks of conflict, identify areas of practical cooperation, and navigate their respective roles in an increasingly competitive and multipolar international environment.

A full transcript of Ranking Member Khanna’s remarks is below.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen shocking polls from some of our closest allies and partners around the world in terms of the trust they have in the United States versus China.

In Canada, our closest ally in the Western Hemisphere, 44 percent of Canadians view China favorably, up from just 14 percent three years ago. In contrast, only 33 percent have a favorable view of the United States, down from 57 percent in 2023.

Germany is hemorrhaging ten thousand manufacturing jobs per month in large part because its industry is getting crushed by heavily subsidized Chinese imports. And yet, 33 percent of Germans view China favorably, compared to just 27 percent who have a positive view of America.

In Italy, Prime Minister Meloni once fancied herself a friend of President Trump, but today 51 percent of Italians view China favorably, compared to 31 percent for the U.S.

In the UK, with whom America has had a “special relationship” since at least the days of Winston Churchill, 46 percent of Brits have a favorable view of China versus only 41 percent who are favorable toward the United States.

These numbers are even worse across much of the Global South, including in many countries in South and Southeast Asia that are frequent targets of China’s bullying, but are now being bullied even more by our own country.

Because of this bullying, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recently suggested making Canada the EU’s first “associate member.” Leaders across Europe are planning for a post-American world because they don’t trust the American electorate to not vote for another Trump-like leader in the future.

During Donald Trump’s first term, around 2017, Xi Jinping started describing the world order as going through what he called “great changes unseen in a century.”

He was referring to the political turmoil in the United States and many other democracies that led to “Brexit” in 2015 and to Donald Trump’s first election in 2016. He was also referring to China’s own extraordinary rise in economic and military power.

The world is experiencing changes unlike any we have seen in a very long time, perhaps in the lifetimes of any of us here in this room.

So, what has changed?

Americans have made clear that we reject the unfettered globalization that deindustrialized our country and hollowed out once-thriving communities like Johnstown, PA and Middletown, OH. I saw Fairless Works shut down where I grew up in Bucks County.

Deindustrialization and economic dislocation have rippled across much of the world. Populist anger contributed to Brexit and the electoral success of far-right parties across Europe from France and Germany to Austria and Croatia.

Almost one in four Europeans now vote for far-right parties, almost five times more than the proportion in the mid-1990s.

In the United States, we are trying to do something historically unprecedented in becoming the first cohesive multiracial democracy in the world. We have the highest foreign-born percentage of our population in America since 1924, and no nation comes close to our diversity with our African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native American populations.

China is the polar opposite in its campaign of forced and often brutal assimilation of its Tibetan, Uyghur, Southern Mongolian, and other non-Han communities, including through its so-called “Ethnic Unity Law.”

And finally, the AI revolution is transforming our economy, creating unprecedented wealth but also creating real risks for society in the loss of control, misalignment, the loss of jobs and staggering wealth inequality.

The safety risks are so severe that the founders of three major American AI companies recently called for “pacing the frontier” to make sure that the rate of advancement in AI doesn’t outpace humanity’s ability to control it. I’ve called on the major Chinese labs to make the same pledge.

So, the question now is, what comes next?

Will China lead the world, or will America lead it?

We live in a time devoid of statesmanship.

Ironically, the only American providing global leadership these days is Pope Leo, who I went to see this summer and who has written a marvelous treaty on AI, Magnifica Humanitas. Last month, I wrote letters to American AI companies asking them to commit to its principles.

I want America to be a moral leader in the world again.

But to do this, we need a new generation offering a new doctrine for American foreign policy.

First, a new generation must make clear that we renounce and categorically reject the doctrine of “might makes right,” which President Trump has recklessly applied to his Iran war and in the Caribbean.

Instead, America must lead and be a friend to the world, standing up for freedom and human rights.

We should remember President Kennedy’s famous words from his address to the nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he reminded Americans that:

“Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right […] here in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.”

A generation earlier, FDR announced his “good neighbor” policy in his first inaugural address, where he pledged America to “the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others.”

We can even go back to the Founding Fathers themselves, like Thomas Jefferson, who called for “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations” to be one of the essential principles of American governance.

These principles must be cornerstones of our foreign policy once again. We must restore our alliances with nations working to become pluralistic democracies and work with them in good faith to advance human and economic rights and democracy around the world.

This includes ending our hypocrisy and supporting self-determination for the Palestinians living side-by-side with a secure Israel as the Arab Peace Plan has long called for. 

We must not take a hectoring tone. Instead, we must work diplomatically, including with NGOs, to stand up for the universal truths that are enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

And like President Kennedy, we should not mistake rejecting the principle of “might makes right” for neglecting the importance of might itself.

We must ensure that America retains naval and air superiority in the Pacific to counterbalance China’s rapid build-up of military power.

We must invest in attritable drones and autonomous vehicles to make sure that our military can prevail on the battlefield of the future, and does not just keep fighting yesterday’s wars.

This brings me to the second principle for a new foreign policy doctrine, which is that we need an America that uses its power to help solve the world’s problems, not to militarily threaten and bully other countries.

When the world thinks of us, they shouldn’t think of the size of our military or the destructive power of our bombs. Instead, they should think of America as a peacemaker and leader who can convene others to resolve humanity’s biggest issues.

We should lead in addressing the climate crisis, global poverty, ending war, and illiteracy.

But today, let’s start with AI.

We can begin by showing American leadership on the issue of AI safety.

Winning an AI war is like winning a nuclear war. It is catastrophic for civilization.

America’s AI labs might be winning today, but nobody wins if humans lose control of AI or if bad actors use AI to unleash a chemical or biological attack.

We must lead the way by showing the world what responsible AI regulation looks like. This starts by establishing a federal AI Safety Agency and imposing strict liability on labs that fail to follow the rules or unleash catastrophic harm.

Rule Number One must be a ban on recursive self-improvement. This is when AI develops AI— and it is the clearest path to humans losing control of this technology.

Rule Number Two is mandatory certifications and inspections to prevent misuse and misalignment.

Once we’ve led the way at home, we need the world to follow. Our President should pursue a binding agreement with China to keep humans in control, which must be enforceable and verifiable.

The third principle for a new foreign policy is to build a fresh economic vision for the world that replaces corporate-dominated globalization. We must build the economy of the future for every American in every place, not just for a few billionaires.

This starts with what I call a New Economic Patriotism.

After World War II, European industry lay devastated by half a decade of total war. Public discontent was rising, which American leaders feared would lead to radical and destabilizing ideologies.

In response, the Marshall Plan helped rebuild Europe’s economy and shore up public support for capitalism and democracy.

Today, American industry lies devastated by five decades of offshoring and financial engineering by private equity. Populist anger is rising at the elites who chased low wages overseas and shut down factories to maximize shareholder value.

We need a Marshall Plan for America to achieve economic renewal across our nation, with high-paying industrial and service jobs in every community.

Rebuilding our economy at home is not isolationism. It promotes economic and national security and helps overcome the anger so many Americans feel about deindustrialization.

We can combine this strategy with policies that help other nations, especially in Latin America and the Global South, to develop their own economies in ways that don’t compete with our jobs.

The Development Finance Corporation and USAID can and should support this effort in  developing nations.These countries in turn will be better markets for American exports. Our assistance can also help rebuild trust in places that have been courted by Chinese gifts and attention.

We would not do this in China’s way of seeking dominance and control. We would do it because we want to see the spread of free enterprise and democracy.

If we focus on rebuilding American factory towns and rural communities, and if we deliver on shared prosperity within our country, Americans will see that economic engagement with the world need not be zero sum.

Americans will support the economic development of other nations so long as we trust that it won’t lead to foreign goods being dumped back into our market or happen at the expense of our working class.

My final principle for a new American foreign policy is that at home, America must strive to become a cohesive multiracial nation, and in doing so, become a model for the world.

I have often spoken of my deep admiration for Frederick Douglass, whose 1867 speech “Composite Nation” ranks as one of the greatest in American history. In it, he calls on America to celebrate immigrants and become what he called a “composite nation”: taking the best from the ways of life of different people, from different parts of the world, and melding it into something beautiful here.

After fifteen years in bondage, he still believed that in the free air of America the best ideas of different traditions would emerge, and that we could become a shining pluralistic democracy with shared prosperity for all.

That is the America I see emerging after Donald Trump. It will be born if we build economic security and dignity for every American in every community.

To be Douglass’s composite nation, we must guarantee economic dignity in Johnstown and Middletown, in Downriver Detroit, in Milwaukee Orangeburg, Las Vegas; and Lordstown for Black, Latino, and white Americans alike.

Building a multiracial democracy will require the greatest economic mission in generations. An America that is economically resilient across geographies will be more likely to be an outward-facing, confident nation that once again leads the free world.

I want an America that rejects Donald Trump’s philosophy, which preys on our worst fears to divide us, and emulates dictators who build a world of domination and dependence.

I want an America that rediscovers the decency, the positive outlook, and the can-do pragmatism our Founders brought into the world 250 years ago.

Those capacities are still in us. We simply have to make sure this nation is not enriching a few, but working for the people I grew up with in Pennsylvania and working for all Americans.

If we provide economic opportunity everywhere, we can become the world’s first cohesive multiracial democracy, a nation that carries the freedom struggles of every corner of the earth, and is a moral light to the aspirations of free people.

This is our duty and our calling.

Thank you.

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