Ortagus says both parties guilty of not seeing China's leaders 'for who they really are' over past 40 years

close

Video

Ortagus: All of us in Washington guilty for not seeing China for who they really are

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus addresses China's threat to Americans' privacy.

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus acknowledged on "Bill Hemmer Reports" Wednesday that the foreign policy establishment in both parties is guilty of "not seeing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for who they really are" over the past four decades.

Ortagus explained that under the rule of Xi Jinping, China has become more belligerent toward both the U.S. and Beijing's Asian neighbors, pushing its territorial claims in the South China Sea and hacking into the records of the federal Office of Personnel Management during the Obama years.

US, CHINA RAMP UP SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSION WITH NEW MILITARY DRILLS

"The big difference is that the American media is now covering it ...," Ortagus said. "They've [China has] been doing this for quite some time. The big difference is that this administration is not ignoring it. We are shining a light on it. They continue to erode the freedom and autonomy of Hong Kong and we're standing up to that."

Video

"What we're trying to do is to look at the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman Xi for who they really are," she added.

Ortagus also discussed the cyber-espionage threat posted by social media and technology companies based in China, such as TikTok, Huawei and ZTE.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"When you download one of these apps ... we are concerned that American citizens' private data gets into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party," she said, citing the OPM hack in which  "we lost many people's security clearance information to the CCP. We know they have the ability to do it."