Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you're expected to write answers to questions involving multiple references to the same entity. The answer to the question should be unambiguous and a phrase in the paragraph. Most questions can have only one correct answer.

Passage: With diplomatic tensions building and the United States facing a possible military confrontation with China, Air Force One mysteriously crashes in the desert while heading to California, with U.S. President, Jeremy Haines, on board. While the crash is being investigated and the President's fate is yet uncertain, Vice-President, Kermit Madigan, becomes Acting President. Unfortunately, Haines had left him uninformed of current foreign policies. Madigan must now rely on the late President's aides to fill him in on information he lacks, while the aides attempt to further their own agendas.
National Security Advisor, George Oldenburg, claims that Haines was preparing to go to war if the Chinese did not back down, while career diplomat Secretary of state, Freeman Sharkey, asserts that Haines was pursuing a peaceful solution to the problem with China. Madigan's wife, Hester, sees this as an opportunity to advance his career, but the Washington political community doubts his competence. In dealing with growing tensions and conflicting advice, Madigan struggles to avoid a nuclear war with China. Meanwhile, it turns out that President Haines was not aboard the crashed plane after all.
Question: What is the official position of the person who asserts that Haines was pursuing a peaceful solution to the problem with China?
Secretary of state.