Democratic Candidates Compassion Forum, April 13, 2008: on Foreign Policy

Hillary Clinton: Boycott Olympic ceremony to pressure China on Tibet & Sudan

A: Last week I called on our president to not attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics [to protest] Beijing government’s actions. [We should push] the Chinese to end the suppression of Tibetans and undermining their culture & religious beliefs, and to get more cooperation with respect to Sudan. But the challenge is, how do we try to influence the Chinese government? I believe we have missed many opportunities during the Bush administration to do so. In fact, I think it’s fair to say our policy toward China is incoherent and that has not been in our strategic interest. So I would urge the president to not attend the opening ceremonies, and let’s see whether the Chinese government responds because that would be a great loss of face and perhaps we would get more cooperation.

Hillary Clinton: Commit to helping people abroad before committing troops

A: I believe strongly that we have to get back to leading on issues like health care and education and women’s rights around the world. I have introduced bipartisan legislation called The Education for Al Act, to have the US lead the world in putting the 77 million kids who aren’t in school into school. I believe we should demonstrate our commitment to people who are poor, disenfranchised, disempowered before we talk about putting troops anywhere. The US has to be seen again as a peacekeeper, and we have lost that standing in these last seven years. So I think we have to concentrate first and foremost on restoring our moral authority in the world and our standing in the world.