"Make no mistake about it, the Belt and Road initiative is founded in corruption and ignoring the rule of law, and we saw during COVID-19 our vulnerability here. We really do have a major vulnerability to a secure supply chain by the Belt and Road Initiative, and it is using economic pressure on countries, particularly in Africa, but also we see in our own hemisphere, and globally by China, to use their economic influence to dominate the trade agreements, and once they do that, they control the intellectual property, whether they developed it or not, they determine all the rules of the game, and it's anything but a secure supply chain from any standard that we're interested in." 

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“We are in a crossroads moment.  We have just seen important signals being sent by world leaders at the G7 and NATO summits. While there wasn’t absolute unanimity, there clearly was a projected message of shared awakening, of a recognition of the challenges and long-term vulnerabilities in relationships, diplomatic relationships, economic relationships, and quite frankly, the architecture of freedom.  All of that makes the launch of the Helsinki Commission’s report, “The Ties that Bind,”  remarkably timely and welcome.