'Big Mistake' for Biden Administration to Shut Down China Initiative: Trump

The recent move by the Biden administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) to terminate the China Initiative is a "big mistake," former President Donald Trump said at a Feb. 26 press conference prior to his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Trump also issued remarks on the current situation in Ukraine during the press conference.

The DOJ announced on Feb. 23 that it was ending the China Initiative program, which was spearheading an unprecedented crackdown against economic espionage, trade theft, and technology transfer by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against the United States. The program was launched in 2018 by the Trump administration.

"I'm surprised to see that. I don't think we should be doing that. ... I think it's a big mistake," Trump said of the DOJ's decision to terminate the program, in response to a question from Epoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek. "China, as you know, is a very big player, but it can be a very dangerous player in so many different ways."

DOJ Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen told a press briefing on Feb. 23 that the China Initiative was designed as a coherent approach to the challenges posed by the CCP and was “driven by genuine national security concerns."

Under the initiative, the FBI was conducting roughly 1,000 investigations by February 2020 across 56 regional offices into China’s attempted theft of trade secrets, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time. China has also been implicated in about 80 percent of all economic espionage charges brought forward by the DOJ, and the country is connected to 60 percent of all trade-secret theft cases. The initiative has led to dozens of prosecutions since its inception, according to the DOJ's 2021 year-end report.

But there have been growing concerns from the civil rights community that the program was fielding “a narrative of intolerance and bias," Olsen said. He also said the academic and scientific community had raised concerns over the department’s prosecutions of certain fraud cases involving research grants, alleging that the prosecutions could ultimately “lead to a chilling atmosphere for scientists and scholars” and threaten academic research and economic development in the long term.

As such, the program will be replaced by a broader, new approach to tackle threats "from a range of hostile nation-states," and the DOJ "will continue to prioritize" threats from the CCP, Olsen said.

Taiwan May Suffer 'Similar' Situation to Ukraine

CPAC is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials that started in 1974. This year, the conference was held at Rosen Shingle Creek hotel in Orlando, Florida, from Feb. 24 to Feb. 27.

Trump told reporters backstage that with regard to the invasion of Ukraine, he believes that "a similar thing" could happen in Taiwan when asked about how concerned he was that China might encroach on Taiwan.

"The way we withdrew from Afghanistan was one of the most embarrassing moments in the history of our country—I actually think that if that didn't take place, you might not have what's happening in Ukraine right now," Trump said. "I think when Putin saw that, and when President Xi of China witnessed that ... I really think that's a contributing factor to what's happening today in Ukraine, and I think it's going to also lead to a similar thing happening in Taiwan.

"They wanted to get the Olympics finished, the Olympics have now finished. Let's see what happens."

The former president condemned recent incursions by Chinese aircraft into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

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• China, US Flex Military Muscles Near Taiwan Amid Ukraine Conflict

Just hours after Russia mounted an attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, nine Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan's ADIZ, marking the 13th such move into Taiwan's airspace this month. Taiwan’s defense ministry said the latest incursion included eight fighter jets and one reconnaissance aircraft.

Trump told reporters that the current conflict in Ukraine could spread into "a world war" and that it "should have never started."

"I just think it's a shame what's going on, there was no reason for it. It shouldn't have happened," Trump said. "It would not have happened if our administration were in place.

"What's happening today is so sad when you watch it, when you see what's going on."

When asked whether the situation makes him want to run for president again, Trump said, "I just want to do what's right for the country, and that's what we'll do.

"We'll do what's right for the country at the right time. We'll let you know."