摘译：国务卿迈克尔·R·蓬佩奥谈论美国在亚洲：经济参与，促进受益 
国务卿迈克尔·R·蓬佩奥暹罗协会泰国曼谷
2019年8月2日
蓬佩奥国务卿：大家上午好。彼得，谢谢你的热情介绍。我还要感谢暹罗协会和你们的主席接待我。我也知道我们今天在房间里有很多著名的商人。
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这是我作为国务卿首次访问曼谷。我以前来过这里。我来过这一地区很多次。此时此地在这里感到很特别。正如代办所说，美国有200年悠久、受到珍视的关系。而且我知道在接下来的两个世纪里，我们将保持非常棒的、好朋友的关系。
我们今天所在的这个地方有一个座右铭。暹罗协会的座右铭是，“知识带来友谊。”本着这种精神，我今天想与大家分享我对我们在这个地区的经济参与的看法。我想不出我们关系中有什么因素比这更重要。这段历史有时被遗忘，更糟糕的是，被那些不关心我们最佳共同利益的人扭曲。
这是一个曾经不可想象,但现在对我们所有人来说绝对是不可或缺的伙伴关系的故事。
这是一个真正寻求双赢主张的国家的故事。
这是一个关于美国原则和亚洲繁荣的故事。
我来跟大家聊聊就来自泰国这里的阿努拉克（Anurak）一家。不久前，阿努拉克先生是一家建筑公司的工头，他的妻子是一名护士。不错的中产阶级生活，是的。但他们想要更多。正如所有家庭一样，他们想要为孩子们提供更多的东西。他们开了一家小型养鸡场。
2006年，从1968年开始在泰国投资的美国公司嘉吉发现了他们。
他们与这家人一起努力提高生产力，提高效率，帮助他们掌握管理技巧。
这个与美国的伙伴关系结果非常好。今天，一家养鸡场已经变成五家，他们每个月平均收入78000美元。
当他们准备好进一步发展时，他们知道这个伟大的美国企业是他们坚实的合作伙伴。
这种惊人的繁荣与二战后席卷亚洲的破坏和不确定性相去甚远，二战过去真的还没有那么久。
当时，印度太平洋地区是一个繁荣的地方——不是一个繁荣的地方，和我们今天所知的完全不同。几十年来，这里的国家努力寻找自己的道路。
印度从大英帝国独立出来，然后巴基斯坦和孟加拉国走各自的路，新加坡和马来西亚分道扬镳，台湾与中国大陆分开，共产主义意识形态当时正在朝鲜半岛、越南和印度尼西亚持续发展。
 
但看看时代如何变迁：
首尔是三星和LG等世界级公司的所在地。
新加坡是脸书（Facebook）、微软、辉瑞和许多律师的地区总部。
河内的摩托车和汽车喧闹往来。
班加罗尔为全世界提供IT解决方案。
台北的天际线——它的天际线上耸立的台北101是世界上最高的建筑之一。
甚至北京和上海也成为经济引擎。
当然，对于未来，正确问题是：这一切是如何发生的？
这不是一个经济上的奇迹，事实上，这并不是注定的。
这种繁荣出现，是因为两个非常平凡的因素：贸易和自由。
 
我是陆军出身，我不喜欢把什么事都归功于海军，但事实是——事实是，印度-太平洋地区的主要航道过去和现在都受到美国水兵的保护。在殖民力量曾经要求屈服的地方，美国提供了安全保障。
在经济上，确实是这样。确实，政府创建了一些全国冠军公司，但这只是故事的一部分。由国家主导的增长只能做到这么多。
因为最终，人类的繁荣只有在政府退后一步时才会真正兴旺发展。印度-太平洋地区是因为各国采用了今年夏天我在阿姆斯特丹举行的全球企业家峰会上谈到的方法才真正起飞。这真的很简单：产权、法治、降低税收、整体放松政府监管。
那是亚洲虎发出咆哮、亚洲小虎自立的时候。
在中国大陆是这样，在新加坡是这样，在台湾是这样，现在在泰国这里也是这样。
三星、本田、台积电、马恒达（Mahindra & Mahindra）等许多本土巨头纷纷出现。
而美国就在那里。它一直在那里，与你们在一起，而且它还将这样做，帮助你们增长并建立更密切的联系。我们建立了亚太经合组织，我们建立了东盟和湄公河下游倡议，我们与你们一起，肩并肩，做了这些事。
同样重要的是，我们投资于你们的人力资本。几十年来，我们的教育项目和大学培养了从当地领导者到国家元首的数千名亚洲领袖。
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我们最重要的一些使者——私营企业——与你们并肩成长，让我们共同受益。
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今天，超过4200家美国公司在东盟内运营，雇用、培训并投资于整个地区的数百万人。美国公司在该地区的投资超过一万亿美元。没有任何其他国家可与其匹敌。
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这里的贫困率已从1986年的67％下降到2017年的7.8％。这是非常了不起的。泰国现在是全球第20大经济体。想想这一点。
我们希望在整个东南亚看到这样的增长，无论国家大小。而且我们知道——我们知道，因为我们已经看到区域繁荣与创新，与良好治理，与法治携手并进。
所以，特朗普政府致力于每个东南亚国家的主权、韧性和繁荣。而且不仅如此，不仅如此，我们想要在这里加强和扩展我们的关系。
不要相信任何试图告诉你并非如此的人。大约两年前，特朗普总统让美国再次致力于经济联系，而历史已经证明了成功之道。那就是我刚刚描述的。我们最终知道自由是复兴的真正源泉。我们想要一个自由开放的印度-太平洋，以法治、开放、透明、良治、尊重每个国家的主权、真正的伙伴关系这些核心理念为标志。
这就是为什么我们在我们的国会支持了《建设法案》（BUILD Act），它使得美国的发展融资能力翻了一番以上，达到600亿美元。
归根结底，我们相信民主，而且我们赞赏——我们的泰国朋友重返民主阵营。
我们也相信人权和自由。香港目前的动荡清楚地表明被治者的意愿和声音总是会被听到。
而且我们想要自由和公平的贸易，而非破坏竞争的贸易。
我们想要世界各地数以万亿美元计的未被投资的民间资本在该地区被加以利用。我们见识过这一点。要建造桥梁、或港口、或电网，私营投资者拥有的资金比任何一个政府在任何时候能给与任何其他国家的资金都多得多。
我们的投资不服务于某一政府，而且我们在这里的投资不服务于某一政党，或者坦白地说，某一国家的帝国野心。
不，我们是在为了铺设我们的国家主权而修路。我们不会为了笼络人心而出资架桥。
我们的企业受到激励去做让消费者和公民受益的高质量的工作。
这样问问你们自己，问问你们自己：谁真正把人民的利益放在首位，一个尊重你的主权的贸易大国，还是一个对其嗤之以鼻的贸易大国？
这样问问你们自己：谁真正扶持创新和改革，私营领域企业还是国有企业？
这样问问你们自己：谁真正鼓励自给自足而非依赖，在努力去满足你们的消费者需求的投资者，还是那些把你们陷在债务中的投资者？
美国现在有世界上最强有力的经济，而且我们的消费者正在驱动对于你们的产品的需求。对比而言，中国的经济正在进入一种新常态——一种增长越来越缓慢的新常态。
中国的问题源于自身，但是特朗普总统对中国不公平贸易做法的正视帮助引发了对该些做法的关注。我们想要我们的贸易问题尽快得到解决。我们所想要的，特朗普总统向来要求过的，不过是中国与每个人，不仅仅是与美国，在公平的环境下竞争。这不仅会让我们受益，也会让你们还有全球贸易体系受益。
是时候一起来做更多了，运用经过时间考验的模式，运用使美国成为该地区一种良善力量的方法——永远如此。
对联合国数据的一项分析估计并预测亚洲经济体将于2020年超过世界其他经济体的总和，这是自19世纪以来的首次。的确，亚洲的中产阶级爆发式增长。亚洲已经真正成熟。现在我们必须保护这些成果。
让我们保持贸易的自由和公平。
让我们坚持能创造当地工作岗位的透明、高质量的投资。
让我们维护国家和人民的主权权利。
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这个故事说明了一点：几个世纪以来，美国留下的一直是我们的合作伙伴关系——不仅仅是通过我们的政府。
美国建造事物是为了共同利益。
我们建造，是为了持久。
特朗普总统和我们的行政当局将持续这个承诺。

MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATESIAM SOCIETYBANGKOK, THAILANDAUGUST 2, 2019
SECRETARY POMPEO:  Good morning, everyone.  Peter, thank you for the kind introduction.  I also want to thank the Siam Society and your president for hosting me.  I know too we have many prominent businesspeople here in the room with us today.
I want to recognize Greg Bastion, the president of AmCham Thailand.  He’s a West Point grad, so that’s always good.
I especially want to thank the incoming Thai ambassador to the United States as well for joining us here today.  Thank you for being here, sir.
And there’s no bigger VIP than my wife, Susan, who’s sitting in the front row as well.  (Laughter.)  All right, I hit my mark on that one, it’s all good.  (Laughter.)
This is my first visit to Bangkok as the Secretary of State.  I’ve been here before.  I’ve been in the region many, many times.  It’s special to be here in this place at this time.  The United States has a long, cherished relationship, as the charge said, of 200 years.  And I know we will remain great and good friends for the next two centuries as well.
This place that we’re standing today has a motto.  Siam Society’s motto is, quote, “Knowledge gives rise to friendship.”  In that spirit, I’d like to share with you today my perspective on our economic engagement in the region.  I don’t know that any element of our relationship could be more important.  It is a history that has been forgotten at times, and worse, distorted by those who don’t have our mutual best interests at heart.
It’s a story of partnerships which were once unimaginable, but are now absolutely indispensible to all of us.
It’s the story of a country that really seeks win-win propositions.
It’s a story of American principles and Asian prosperity.
Let me tell you about the Anurak family from right here in Thailand.  Not so long ago, Mr. Anurak was a foreman at a construction company and his wife was a nurse.  A nice middle class life, yes.  But they wanted something more.  They wanted something more for their children, as all families do.  They started a small chicken farm.
In 2006, the American company Cargill, which was invested in Thailand beginning in 1968, discovered them.
They worked with the family to improve productivity, to improve efficiency, to help them with management techniques.
That partnership with America worked out pretty darn well.  Today, that one farm has become five, and they earn an average of $78,000 each and every month.
And when they’re ready to grow further, they know they have a solid partner in that great American business.
This astounding prosperity is a far cry from the devastation and uncertainty that engulfed Asia after World War II, which really wasn’t that long ago.
Back then, the Indo-Pacific was a place of prosperity – wasn’t a place of prosperity, not anything like what we know today.  For many decades, nations here struggled to find their path.
India won its independence from the British Empire, and then Pakistan and Bangladesh went their separate ways.  Singapore and Malaysia parted paths.  Taiwan and Mainland China diverged.  Communist ideology was on the march on the Korean Peninsula, and in Vietnam and in Indonesia as well.
But look how times have changed:
Seoul is home to world-class companies like Samsung and LG.
Singapore serves as the regional headquarters to Facebook, Microsoft, Pfizer, and a lot of lawyers.
Hanoi hums with motorbikes and cars zipping around.
Bangalore provides IT solutions to the entire world.
Taipei’s skyline – its skyline is dominated by Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest buildings.
And even Beijing and Shanghai have become economic engines.
And of course, the right question for the future is to ask:  How did this all happen?
It wasn’t an economic miracle, and in fact, it wasn’t preordained.
This prosperity happened because of two very earthly factors: trade and freedom.
Now, I’m an Army guy, and I don’t like to give the Navy credit for much of anything, but the truth is – the truth is the key shipping lanes of the Indo-Pacific were and are today protected by American sailors.  And where colonial powers once demanded submission, America offered security.
Economically, it’s true.  It’s true that governments created some national championship companies, but that’s only part of the story.  State-led growth only gets you so far.
Because in the end, human flourishing only really blossoms when governments step back.  The Indo-Pacific region only really took off when nations adopted the formula that I talked about at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Amsterdam this past summer.  It’s really very simple: property rights, the rule of law, lower taxes, an overall lighter touch from government regulation.
That’s when the Asian tigers roared and cubs stood on their own.
That was as true in Mainland China as it was in Singapore, as it was in Taiwan, and now here in Thailand.
Homegrown giants like Samsung, Honda, Taiwan Semiconductor, Mahindra & Mahindra, and so many more emerged.
And the United States was there.  It was there with you all the way and it will be, helping you grow and forging ever-closer ties.  We built APEC, we built ASEAN, and the Lower Mekong Initiative, and we did so with you, alongside of you.
Importantly too, we invested in your human capital.  Our educational programs and universities have nurtured thousands of Asian leaders for decades, from local leaders to heads of state.
And some of our most important ambassadors – private businesses – grew alongside you to our mutual benefit.  I told you the story about Cargill.  Look at how Chevron has spurred prosperity here, or Texas Instruments in the Philippines.
Today, more than 4,200 American companies operate within ASEAN, employing, training, investing in millions of people all across the region.  U.S. companies have over a trillion dollars invested in the region.  There is no other country anywhere that even comes close.
They say, at least in America, that money doesn’t grow on trees.  Perhaps it does elsewhere.  But I will tell you this:  Money does take root in this region when governments work hard to set the conditions for it to do so.  And leaders from government and businesses will talk about how to grow prosperity further today in the meetings we’ll have and then at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum this November, held right here in Bangkok.
We should be proud of this.  This is a great story, and it’s one the Thai people have lived firsthand.
The poverty rate here has declined from 67 percent back in 1986 to 7.8 percent in 2017.  That’s remarkable.  Thailand now has the 20th largest economy in the world.  Think about that.
We want to see this kind of growth across all of Southeast Asia, for countries big and small.  And we know – we know because we’ve seen that regional prosperity goes hand-in-hand with innovation, with good governance, and with the rule of law.
And so the Trump administration is invested in the sovereignty, in the resilience, and prosperity of every Southeast Asian nation.  And not only that, not only that, we want to strengthen and expand our relationship here.
And don’t believe anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.  Nearly two years ago, President Trump recommitted the United States to economic ties, and the formula for success has been borne out by history.  It’s the one that I just described.  We know in the end that liberty is the true source of rejuvenation.  We want a free and open Indo-Pacific that’s marked by the core tenants of the rule of law, of openness, of transparency, of good governance, of respect for sovereignty of each and every nation, true partnerships.
It’s why we supported the BUILD Act in our Congress, which has more than doubled America’s development finance capacity to $60 billion.
In the end, we believe in democracy, and we commend the – our Thai friends for returning to the democratic fold.
We also believe in human rights and freedom.  The current unrest in Hong Kong clearly shows that the will and the voice of the governed will always be heard.
And we want free and fair trade, not trade that undermines competition.
We want the trillions of dollars in uninvested private capital all around the world to be put to work in this region.  We’ve seen this.  Private investors have exponentially more money than any one government could ever bestow on any other country to build bridges, or ports, or electricity grids.
Our investments don’t serve a government, and our investments here don’t serve a political party, or frankly, a country’s imperial ambitions.
No, we are building roads to pave our national sovereignty.  We don’t fund bridges to close gaps of loyalty.
Our companies are incentivized to do high-quality work that benefits consumers and citizens.
Ask yourself this, ask yourself:  Who really puts the people’s interests first, a trading power that respects your sovereignty, or one that scoffs at it?
Ask yourself this:  Who really fosters innovation and reform, private sector companies, or state-owned enterprises?
Ask yourself this:  Who really encourages self-sufficiency and not dependence, investors who are working to meet your consumers’ needs, or those who entrap you in debt?
The United States today has the strongest economy in the world, and our consumers are driving demand for your products.  In contrast, China’s economy is entering a new normal – a new normal of ever-slower growth.
China’s problems are homegrown, but President Trump’s confrontation of China’s unfair trade practices has helped shine a light on them.  We’d like our trade matters resolved as quickly as possible.  All we want, all President Trump has ever asked for, is for China to compete on a level playing field with everyone, not just with the United States.  This will benefit not only us, but you, and the global trading system as well.
The time is right to do more together, using the model that has stood the test of time, using the formula that’s made America a force for good in this region – permanently.
One analysis of UN data estimates and predicts that for the first time since the 19th century, Asian economies in 2020 will be larger than the rest of the world combined.  Indeed, the Asian middle class has exploded.  Asia has truly come of age.  Now we must protect those gains.
Let’s keep trade free and fair.
Let’s insist on transparent, high-standard investment that creates local jobs.
Let’s stand up for the sovereign rights of nations and peoples.
As I close today, I’m looking forward to taking questions and talking about issues that are on your mind.  As I close, I can’t help but think of how fitting it is to put forth these ideas right here in Bangkok, Thailand.  Thailand is our oldest treaty partner in Asia.  You’ve proudly maintained your independence.
You’ve held to the path of sovereignty and national autonomy.
And America and Americans have proudly supported your rise for more than two centuries.
In 1835, a man named Dan Beach Bradley first came to the Kingdom of Siam as a missionary physician.
Dr. Bradley brought with him Western medical practices and served the royal court.  He gained the trust and friendship of the future king of Siam, after treating the prince’s serious illness.
He also brought the first Thai script printing press to Siam and founded the first newspaper, The Bangkok Recorder.
But most importantly, he brought knowledge that gave rise to friendship.
Dan’s legacy is bigger than that, because it didn’t stop there.
His daughter Sophia opened a small school in her home to offer equal educational opportunities to girls.  It grew, and to this day the Dara Academy is a well-respected private school right here in Thailand.
The anecdote points to this:  For centuries, America’s legacy has been of our partnership – and not just through our government.
America builds things for mutual good.
And we build them to last.
President Trump and our administration will continue that commitment.
God bless you, and I look forward to taking some questions.
Thank you all for being here with me this morning.  (Applause.)