Newt Gingrich speaks on China, politics at Bovard

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called for a more aggressive stance toward China to an audience of nearly 300 at Bovard Auditorium Tuesday. 

During the event, titled “Facing America’s Biggest Threat,” Gingrich spoke on the economic and political relationships between the United States and China. The USC chapter of Young Americans for Freedom hosted Gingrich as part of a tour to promote his new book “Trump vs. China: Facing America’s Biggest Threat.”

“We are in a competition,” Gingrich said. “At the end of which either we will either be doing what the Chinese want or we will be sufficiently strong that the Chinese will avoid fighting with us and avoid trying to put pressure on us because we will be too dangerous.”

He criticized American infrastructure, saying the U.S. is falling behind other nations like Japan because of excessive bureaucracy and regulation. Gingrich said without sufficient infrastructure, such as improved public transport and better education, China would be able to dictate American economic interests.

“We can’t get our act together to build anything,” Gingrich said. “I was recently in Japan, riding around on a bullet train. Then I get on Amtrak the other day. I mean, it’s embarrassing.”

Gingrich argued that the U.S. government should protect domestic companies from Chinese buyout. He cited the NBA’s recent decision to bow to pressure from the Chinese government, saying that it is an early example of China’s economic power. 

Alix Ollivier, a class of 2019 alumnus who attended the event, disagreed with Gingrich and said his rhetoric painted China as a foreign enemy.

“They’re looking to position China as the next Russia,” Ollivier said. “Because the Republican Party has always done best when they have a clear enemy that they can target outside of the country.”

Ava von Wnuk Lipinski, a UCLA student, agreed with Gingrich and said the U.S. should take a harder stance against China.

“Definitely [China is] a threat to America,” Wnuk Lipinski said. “It’s crazy that some liberals in America want to do the same thing that they’re doing in China, in the sense of censorship, in the sense of data collection. There’s literally no privacy there.”

USC YAF holds speaking engagements for notable conservative figures on campuses across the country.

Earlier this year, YAF hosted political commentator Michael Knowles as part of his speaking tour. His talk, entitled “Men Are Not Women and Other Uncomfortable Truths,” prompted students from Trojan Advocates for Political Progress, Queer and Ally Students Assembly and other groups to organize a walkout over transphobic comments Knowles has made. 

TAPP also called for the University to stop recognizing YAF as a registered student organization because it believes the organization has broken University anti-discrimination policies. 

YAF also hosted conservative commentator Ben Shapiro last October, sparking protests outside Bovard Auditorium.

Tuesday’s event faced little opposition. While Kailee Evans, a business administration major and YAF activities chair, said that a few posters advertising the event were torn down, there were no protests leading up to or during the talk. 

“He was our former U.S. Speaker of the House. I don’t think Ben [Shapiro] or Michael Knowles are controversial figures, but a lot of people do,” Evans said. “I don’t think Newt has that same connotation in most people’s eyes.”