Published 16:49 IST, October 17th 2020
Pompeo urges Americans to learn foreign languages, cites China's expansive ambitions
Pompeo cited the Chinese Communist Party's expansive ambitions and Iran-backed terrorism as the main reasons to enrich US foreign languages program.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on October 16 announced in a live-streamed address that the US State Department was expanding its National Security Language initiative not only in Mandarin but also in Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Farsi, and more. He said that Americans must hone their critical-language learning to bolster cooperation or deterrence to foreign interests in the US. Americans must carry forward the legacy set up by the farsighted predecessors and US policymakers, the US secretary of state urged.
While the Trump administration has hugely altered the US foreign policies due to growing Chinese dissent in the US, Pompeo cited the Chinese Communist Party's expansive ambitions and Iran-backed terrorism as the main reasons to enrich US foreign languages program. He stated, that the US government website encompasses international language learning at low-cost investments, also offering scholarships, and internships.
In an official statement recorded by the US American weekly, Newsweek, Pompeo insisted that the Americans enhance their knowledge of languages to otherwise eliminate the covert foreign threats or the prospect of a conflict. Appealing to the US citizens to be a part of the national effort in a live-streamed address, the US secretary of state said that in today’s national security environment, it was integral to understand how foreign nations “view us and how they think”, adding, “speaking their language matters.”
CCP threat 'real'
In an example that Pompeo cited about why the knowledge of foreign languages was important for the US, he said, consider the example of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda. “Chinese organs say one thing in English and another in Mandarin,” Pompeo said. It was essential to be able to understand both versions of stories, he said. Pompeo then listed the US government’s website to opt for the language programs. Earlier, in a press address on October 16, the Secretary of State Pompeo said that the threat from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “is real”, as he warned that the US has allowed the CCP to “walk all over us”. Further, he emphasized that it would mean “some real work” to fix what happens at the World Trade Organization, accusing China of stealing patents and alleging theft of US intellectual property.
Updated 16:49 IST, October 17th 2020