Gordon Chang: National security law allows China to do whatever it wants in Hong Kong

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Gordon Chang: National security law allows China to do whatever it wants in Hong Kong

This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," July 5, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

CHARLES PAYNE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning, everyone. Hope you're having a safe and healthy Fourth of July weekend.

I'm Charles Payne, in for Maria Bartiromo.

Coming up on "Sunday Morning Futures":

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The courage of those patriots on July 4, 1776 -- the American republic stands today as the greatest, most exceptional and most virtuous nation in the history of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: President Trump paying tribute to the founding fathers during last night's Salute to America celebration.

And with less than four months to go until the election, why the president is calling mail-in voting his biggest concern heading into November.

We will hear from U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr on why he says American companies with ties to China are putting short-term profits over long-term viability.

Plus: Tennessee setting another single-day record for the new coronavirus cases. Senator Marsha Blackburn joins me to discuss the debate over mask mandates and whether states moved too quickly to reopen, as infection rates spike across the country.

And analysis from Gordon Chang on the reasons behind China's newly passed national security law for Hong Kong.

All that and more, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

The president coming out with a strong defense of U.S. history, while taking aim at the -- quote -- "radical left" during a Salute to America celebration, which included a trip to Mount Rushmore and a speech on the White House lawn on July 4.

For reaction, let's bring in Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, Commerce, and Judiciary committees.

Senator, thanks for joining us.

I just want to get your thoughts on those speeches, again, a serious focus on where America has come from, those who helped build America into the greatest country in the world, and a positive look to the future for all Americans.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): Oh, Charles, I thought the speech was absolutely one of the best that he has given.

And how appropriate that he reminded the American people that we are unique, and that you can bet on hope, or you can bet on fear, but, in this country, you have the ability to do whatever you want to do, to dream those big dreams, and make them come true.

And you and I have talked in times past about how we have each put a focus on encouraging young people from underserved areas. And wouldn't it be fabulous to have this national garden, where people could go and be inspired and say, I want to do something that is going to be significant for my country?

PAYNE: Yes, it's interesting, because the White House just announcing that they do have plans for a national garden that could possibly open July 4, 2026.

The media taking shots, saying it was an arbitrary and random list of Americans. I'm not sure what's so random about John Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Clay, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Franklin Doug -- Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Douglas MacArthur, Betsy Ross, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, George Washington, the Wright brothers, and the list goes on.

That sounds like a pretty good list and a pretty good foundation of what shaped and formed who we are today.

BLACKBURN: I think it's a great foundation, because you know what?

Those of us that studied history and appreciate history can tick through you the list and tell you something of significance that each of those individuals did or said that inspired us in some way.

So, as they are putting this list together, I think it is really wonderful. And how appropriate. You're talking about Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, and this is the year we're celebrating the 19th Amendment and women getting the right to vote.

That is going to be August 18, 2020, the centennial celebration.

PAYNE: And the speech itself, particularly the one at Mount Rushmore, when the president said that the founding fathers launched a revolution in pursuit of justice, equality, liberty, and prosperity, it kind of reminded me of "Hamilton," right?

The biggest media event over the weekend is how many people have watched "Hamilton." And the same folks that said that this is an amazing play, with an inspiring message, found racism, division in these kind of words from President Trump.

So, I just can't understand why, at some point, even the media should let their guards down, and let Americans celebrate where we have come and how we have gotten here so fast.

BLACKBURN: That is so true.

And we want to make certain -- and the president spoke to this. We do not need to erase our nation's history. It is all there, the good, the bad, the ugly, the inspirational, the achievement, the overcoming, the pride that people should take in the fact that they have been able to achieve and do and be.

There are millions of people from all across the globe that seek to come to the United States every single year, because they are escaping oppression and because they want to be able to achieve their dreams. And they have read about our land as a land of hope and opportunity and freedom.

So, they choose to come here. I think the garden is a great idea. The president's speech was the right tone, talking about this country and this country's achievements and the achievements of our people, which is what makes which makes -- which makes our country great.

You know, people felt like President Trump believed in them in 2016. Indeed, he did.

PAYNE: Right.

BLACKBURN: And he has proven that, and so now to say, here is where we can go with our children and grandchildren and say, this is someone who made a difference in our lives.

PAYNE: Senator, I want to switch gears here a little bit.

BLACKBURN: Sure.

PAYNE: COVID-19 cases have been on the rise throughout the nation.

And I think the most recent numbers from Tennessee show a continuing spike in those cases. So, the idea is, what do we do? We do see where masks are now being mandatory in many states that they weren't before.

BLACKBURN: Yes.

PAYNE: Did we open too quickly? Or was it just sort of a situation where people just were so -- have been so pent up, so cooped up, that they overindulged there.

And how long do you think it will get before we're sort of back on track with reopening the nation?

BLACKBURN: I think getting back on track very quickly.

And here is the reason why. You are seeing people who got out there, their kids got out there, they went to protest, they went into these groups. And now what do you have? You have spikes, whether it was protests or bars or whatever.

So, I have talked to a lot of moms who are saying, I have told my kids and my young adults...

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKBURN: ... you have to wear a mask. You have to wash your hands.

PAYNE: Yes.

BLACKBURN: And they know they want to get out and about.

And, Charles, here's the thing. We cannot afford another lockdown in this economy -- 4.8 million jobs, the jobs report, the numbers were good. People want to go to work. They need to do it safely. They need to wear their masks. They need to wear gloves, use a face shield if they need to.

They need to wash their hands. And they need to make certain that their children are -- and even if they're adults, make certain that their children are doing these same things...

PAYNE: Yes.

BLACKBURN: ... their grandchildren are doing it, because kids have got to get back to school. And kids have got to get back to colleges.

If you are not putting kids back in colleges, you don't have young teachers coming along to help teach children. You don't have young medical students getting through medical school and then getting out to do those of residencies and practice medicine.

We have to get ourselves back on track. And here's another thing, Charles. We do not want to hand the keys of this economy that is roaring back to life, we don't want to hand those keys to the Marxists and the socialists.

PAYNE: We have got less than a minute to go. And I know you're passionate about these two topics.

I don't know if we can give answers on both. But, of course, you share President Trump's worries about mail-in voting and the fraud associated with that.

BLACKBURN: Yes.

PAYNE: But something else that you have been working on with the NCAA, the NIL, name, images and likeness, you have pushed hard for this.

And it looks like these student athletes are going to start having some control over their own financial futures because of who they are.

BLACKBURN: When it comes to NIL, yes, I think that we have given the NCAA a deadline. If they can't get their act together, we will get it together for them.

But they're going to resolve this issue. And we're going to have a standard, so that these parents and these young athletes know what to expect.

Likewise, I know you're talking to Gordon in a few minutes. I have been pretty hard on the NBA about their relationship with communist China. And when it comes to dealing with that, they need to be held to account for this.

And let me flip to the mail-in voting. I have served on an election commission as a citizen in service in my county.

PAYNE: Right.

BLACKBURN: I think that we trust our local election commissions to run those elections fair and square.

PAYNE: Right.

BLACKBURN: That is where the accountability needs to be. I'm very leery of mail-in voting.

PAYNE: You're not the only one.

Senator Marsha Blackburn, thank you very much.

Well, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden held his first news conference in 89 days this past Tuesday.

Up next: President Trump on how he plans to campaign against the former vice president and the concerns that he has over of voting by mail also, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Welcome back.

With the 2020 presidential election now just 120 days away, President Trump is calling mail-in voting the single biggest threat to his reelection.

He recently sat down with Maria Bartiromo for an exclusive interview about why the Democrats want to change how America votes and why he believes it's a danger to our democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I'm running against the Democrats, and I'm running against the media.

I'm running against the radical left. I'm running against some really stupid Republicans that don't understand how good they had it, because we have some Republicans -- I'm at 95 or 96 percent with the Republican Party, but we have some people that claim to be Republicans, and they've gone crazy.

And the reason is, I have defeated them all. You know, they were all my opponents, and they've never gotten over it, guys, Weaver and Schmidt, all losers.

And they go out and they try buying commercials. And you say, gee, we've rebuilt our military. We've taken care of our vets. Our vets are in the best shape. You've never seen anything like with the vets, with Choice, with everything else.  We've done such a good job. And then you add the judges and you add protecting our Second Amendment.  And what are these guys going to do? Support Joe Biden?  MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: No.   TRUMP: And, you know, because Joe has been brought way left, way, way left.

They've never gotten over losing to me. It wasn't supposed to happen. And then I had another race. It was against crooked Hillary Clinton. And she's never gotten over it either.

BARTIROMO: Well, she's been tweeting already, saying that we have to vote by mail.

Now, I know that there was interference in the 2016 election. They were out to get you, and they wanted to take you down. There's another kind of interference, and that could be fooling around with voting machines.

I mean, in terms of voting by mail, vote proxies, what's your take? Do you want that?

TRUMP: So...

BARTIROMO: She's been tweeting about that, Hillary.

TRUMP: Voting by mail is very dangerous, because people can grab them. People can take that proxy, sign a name. They can -- they can do all sorts of things, especially harvesting.

They go out, and they say just -- let's put them all together. And that's happened. And, by the way, we were thinking it might happen in California. We were worried about the race.

But, look, in California, they actually won. They voted by mail, the one we just won today. We just won it, vote by mail. And they were losing, because, when you vote by mail, you see the tally, how it's going, right?

And we were losing. We were losing that issue. So, we lost that issue. We're voting by mail. We're winning. What happens? They immediately set a voting booth up -- wasn't supposed to -- in the middle of a Democrat area, so they could get votes.

But they still didn't do it. We won the race. It's pretty amazing.  BARTIROMO: So, why would Nancy Pelosi come up with this $3.9 trillion plan, if she knows...

TRUMP: I think she wants -- yes. Yes.

BARTIROMO: ... it's dead on arrival, she's knows nobody's going to go for a marijuana business in the middle of a pandemic.

What -- I mean...

TRUMP: More than anything else, she wants the voter -- the way of voting changed, because, if you did that -- look, they have had some very dishonest things.

You look at California. Look at Los Angeles, where Judicial Watch settled a case, where they agreed that a million votes were fraudulent. A million votes in one area were fraudulent. And they could have done a lot more, but it was almost -- it was so ridiculous, there was no reason to go any further.

They came to a settlement. They agreed on a million votes. The level of dishonesty with Democrat voting is unbelievable. If you told a Republican to vote twice, they'd get sick at even the thought of it.

And you have people that vote numerous times. What's happening is crazy. So, now they want to send out vote by mail.

Who's going to -- who knows who's signing this stuff? Not only should they come and vote. Now, if you're a senior citizen, and if you're this or that, like in Florida, there's a great system of voting. But it's a fair system, and it's a very closely watched system.  So, in some cases, age, you're not feeling well, you should be able to do it. But you have to go out and vote. And if you don't do that, it can be -- we'll have the worst rigged election since Bernie Sanders, because Bernie Sanders, he has had a lot of bad things happen to him.

You know, it's interesting with Bernie Sanders.  BARTIROMO: That's a good point. I'm glad you're making that.  TRUMP: If Bernie Sanders -- if Elizabeth Warren drops -- and nobody talks about this. I say it all the time, because it's so basic.

Elizabeth Warren was a failed candidate, but she got a lot of the super liberal votes, you know, the radical left, I call it. And she didn't drop out of the race Super Tuesday. If she drops out of the race -- she doesn't even have to endorse Bernie Sanders.  He wins every state, almost every state against Biden. But she didn't. And then two other people who did drop out, they gave the support to Biden.

If -- and despite that, if she does it, because she got thousands of votes. Every one of those races were very close. She -- he would win almost every state, Bernie Sanders. And that was the establishment Democrats killing Bernie Sanders.  BARTIROMO: Wow.

You know, Mr. President, there are a lot of people today that are very happy that you're so tough, as tough as you are, because there's a statute -- there's a 1947 statute that says Nancy Pelosi would yield all of the powers of the presidency if the president and the vice president could not -- consistent with the law, she could issue whatever executive orders she wanted, fire disfavored political appointees, and, in general, direct the executive branch, as she pleased.  She's third in line.  TRUMP: It's never going to happen.

We'll keep our vice president very healthy, and I will stay healthy. Never going to happen. She would be a disaster.

But, look, Nancy Pelosi is a disaster, OK? Even doing a thing like that with her crazy vote, what she wants to do is get involved with the voting. She just got back to Washington.  Everybody said, what -- what was so long? She just got back here. So, let's just see how it all works out ...

BARTIROMO: So...  TRUMP: But I think we're going to have a great election. I'm getting really good poll numbers. For the most part, they're not being shown.

And I saw Joe Biden on television yesterday. And if you watch him, he knows nothing. He knows absolutely nothing.

BARTIROMO: Do you think he will be the candidate?  TRUMP: I don't know. I just don't know.

I mean, I'm looking -- normally, it's -- of course he's going to be the candidate. Again, if Elizabeth Warren, Pocahontas, as I affectionately call her, because her whole life was a fraud -- if Elizabeth Warren just got out before Super Tuesday, it would be Bernie.

I don't care who it is. It doesn't matter. I actually would prefer, Joe. I think I would prefer Joe. Who knows, right, about those things.

But a lot of people wonder, is he going to be the candidate?

BARTIROMO: But, you know, how will you be positioning yourself for the election?

Because people voted for you because they trusted your economic smarts. They knew you could turn things around for the economy and business. You're a business...

TRUMP: And I did.   BARTIROMO: The first business president. Exactly.

TRUMP: Look...

BARTIROMO: Unemployment potential.

TRUMP: ... we had to turn off our country. We had the greatest -- as we say...

BARTIROMO: So, will you position yourself differently going into this election?

TRUMP: No, I don't think so.

I'm going to do it again. I got to do it again. I did it once. I showed it can be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAYNE: Coming up: The Department of Justice continues its probe into the origins of the Russia investigation.

Attorney General Bill Barr on where the investigation stands now, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Welcome back.

As U.S. Attorney General John Durham continues his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, these newly declassified handwritten notes by former FBI agent Peter Strzok reveal President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden first raised the Logan Act during an Oval Office conversation about Michael Flynn on January 5, 2017, just weeks before President Trump's inauguration.

Attorney General Bill Barr recently spoke exclusively with Maria Bartiromo about why the FBI was targeting the incoming administration and who the mastermind might be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: A source said to me a couple of years ago, speaking of the Russia collusion story, that this was the closest the United States ever game to a coup to take down a president since the assassination of Lincoln.

Is that an appropriate statement?

WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: In this sense. I think it is the closest we have come to an organized effort to push a president out of office.

BARTIROMO: And it continues.

BARR: But what -- you know, I'm not reaching a judgment as to what the motivations there were.

BARTIROMO: Can you tell us anything about how this all started?

This is not just an American citizen. This was a man running for president, and this was a person who got elected to become the president. And the FBI thought it was a good idea to launch an investigation into Donald Trump and potential collusion. Why?

BARR: You know, I guess I don't want to talk about that.

Some of it may become evident as the -- as more facts are disclosed. But I think there were probably a range of motives for different people.

BARTIROMO: But is there any evidence that, in fact, it was appropriate to launch an investigation, other than a conversation in a bar?

I know that George Papadopoulos had a conversation in a bar.

BARR: That is the official version of what happened, that that comment in a London wine bar was what the basis really was for going forward.

And I have said that I thought that that was a very slender reed to get law enforcement intelligence agencies involved in investigating the campaign of one's political opponent.

BARTIROMO: Lindsey Graham told us that four FBI case agents talked to the Russian subsource, in other words, the person who compiled some of the information in the dossier, and that subsource told those agents that it was just bar talk, that it wasn't true, that we didn't really buy it anyway.

Did those case agents tell their superiors that?

BARR: Again, I don't want to get into the details, because those are the kinds of things we're looking at.

But that whole vignette is laid out to some extent in the I.G.'s report, that, in January 2017 and in March 2017, they talked to the primary subsource, who was the sole conduit for this information that made up the dossier.

And, as I have said, the dossier pretty much collapsed at that point. And yet they continued to use it as a basis for pursuing this counterintelligence investigation.

BARTIROMO: So, does it sound like Jim Comey and Andrew McCabe knew that the dossier had collapsed in January of 2017?

BARR: I don't want to discuss that aspect of it.

BARTIROMO: Is there any culpability from the media?

Because, probably, you couldn't really have the story as broad-based and loud in your face as we had it without the media.

BARR: Generally, as a practical matter, no, there's -- there's little risk of liability for the -- for a reporter to disclose information that they have obtained.

Now, sometimes, news organizations may go too far in soliciting and obtaining that information, which could create problems for them. But, generally speaking, it's very hard to go after the reporters.

BARTIROMO: Ric Grenell calls the transition period key.

What can you tell us about the transition period that we need to understand better?

BARR: Well, it depends on what the motivations were and why they were looking at it.

But it is -- I would say it's unusual for an outgoing administration, high- level officials, to be unmasking very much in the days they're preparing to leave office. It makes you wonder what they were doing.

BARTIROMO: And in that meeting on -- the Oval Office meeting that now is much talked about on January 5, 2017, when President Obama and Vice President Biden were there, along with their deputies, they talked about the Logan Act with regard to General Flynn.

That was the first time I had heard that become an issue, given that they were pursuing collusion with Russia. So, was that an opportunity to just try to take down Flynn any way they could?

BARR: Well, we have said what we have to say about Flynn in our filing to dismiss the charges. And we discuss the invocation, to the extent that it was invoked, of the Logan Act.

But the Logan Act was, in my view, facially absurd to raise in this context, where you have an incoming national security adviser. This wasn't just a private citizen engaged in negotiations to the detriment of the United States. This was somebody coming into office in a transition, which is an officially recognized function of the United States, and discussing future relations.

BARTIROMO: Adam Schiff is an elected official, the chairman of the Intel Committee.

When these guys speak, you stop and listen. Adam Schiff said multiple times that there was collusion in plain sight. Is it no accountability for an elected official, someone that the public obviously trusts just by their resume, to say one thing in a closed-door situation, when you're under oath, like so many in the Obama administration said, we have no evidence of collusion, but then they went out on television and they said the complete opposite?

They said, "Collusion is in plain sight." That's a quote from Adam Schiff. "The president committed treason." That's a quote from John Brennan.

Is there no accountability? Can Adam Schiff, because he's an elected official, not be under oath and lead a witness anywhere he wants, even if he's lying, and just get away with it, no problem? And the rest of us are all under oath.

BARR: Well, as far as public comments like these people have been making in press conferences and on television and so forth, you know, the accountability is really elections for Schiff.

That's why we have elections. If the people of his district want him to continue to behave as he has, then they can send him back to office.

It is infuriating, and it's the same phenomenon I discussed with the media, which is, the media misled the American people grossly over a long period of time with exaggerated claims and misinformation. And they haven't been held accountable, and the same for a lot of these talking heads who were out there saying that their information was that the president and his family were going to be indicted on Friday.

Nothing happens. And then, later, when it turns out there's nothing there, whoops, I guess -- I guess I thought there was stuff there that I -- you know, apparently wasn't -- and then on to the next misinformation campaign.

BARTIROMO: So, did the media -- was the media aiding and abetting this narrative?

BARR: They were certainly driving it...

BARTIROMO: Yes.

BARR: ... and apparently working closely with people who -- other individuals who were driving it as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAYNE: We will have more of Maria's interview with Attorney General Bill Barr, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  PAYNE: Welcome back.

On Tuesday, the FCC officially declared Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE as national security threats. The decision prevents U.S. companies from using government subsidies to buy equipment from Huawei and ZTE.

Attorney General Bill Barr recently spoke with Maria Bartiromo about China's technological ambitions and why the future of America is at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARTIROMO: Can you tell me a bit about what the CCP is doing? I know there's been a real rethinking of the relationship between the United States and China.

BARR: The way I look at is, this is fundamental challenge to the United States.

Since the late 19th century, our opportunity and our growth, our prosperity as a country has come from our technological leadership. We have been the technological leader of the world.

In the last decade or so, China has been putting on a great push to supplant us, explicitly. They want to be the leader in all the future technologies that are going to dominate the economy. And so what's at stake is the economic opportunity of our children and our grandchildren, whether we can continue to be the technological leader of the world.

The Chinese have embarked on a very aggressive program during this time of stealing and cheating in order to overtake us. They have stolen our intellectual property. When they steal our secrets about future technology, they're stealing the future of the American people.

If they start leading in some of these fundamental foundational technologies like 5G, which will be the platform of much of our future manufacturing in the United States, they will have tremendous leverage over the United States.

If all our industrial practices and our manufacturing practices are built on a platform that they dominate, they will have ultimate leverage over the West.

So, I think this is a competition for the future. They haven't been competing fairly. And the president has confronted this, when no one else has. And the American business community has been a big part of the problem, because they're willing, ultimately, many of them, to sacrifice the long-term viability of their companies for short-term profit, so they can get their stock options and move into the Gulf resort.

That's what's driving some of this. They're not taking the long-term view and the national view of the American -- of maintaining the American strength.

BARTIROMO: Well, I was talking with one money manager the other day.

And he said: Look, Maria, I'm not going to call good guys and bad guys. It's not my role to call out good guys and bad guys. So, yes, the growth is in China, and that's where I want to invest.

BARR: Well, you know what? We're not speaking German today because the American business in the past didn't think that way. They stood with the United States.

And all the privileges and the benefits and the stability and the rule of law and the ability to profit as they do, both as companies and individuals, comes from the strength of this country.

We are clearly cracking down on researchers and others that are sent over here to get involved in our key technological programs.

And, by the way, this is not just weapons systems. This is agriculture. This is medicine. This is robotics. This is artificial intelligence and so forth. It's the whole gamut of important technologies going forward.

BARTIROMO: So, are they seeking out people like the chairman of the chemistry department at Harvard to try to get those people to work with them? Are they seeking people out?

BARR: The Chinese efforts run the gamut from more traditional espionage of recruiting people to work for them, explicitly, to cultivating relationships that they are then able to use.

And the people frequently are not completely attuned to the fact that they are being used as essentially stooges for the Chinese. So, it runs the gamut of things. And, sometimes, some of these programs, high-sounding programs, are used to the advantage of the Chinese.

So, the American business community, we need their understanding of the nature of the problem right now.

BARTIROMO: So, what about the Huawei threat? We know that there are backdoors in some cases where data in the Huawei infrastructure goes back to the Chinese Communist Party. We have talked about that a lot.

Is that true?

BARR: Yes.

BARTIROMO: Would the U.S. consider acquiring...

BARR: I would say -- I would say, there is certainly the capacity to do that, and a very high risk of that.

BARTIROMO: Would the U.S. consider acquiring Ericsson and Nokia to send a message to the world that, if you use Ericsson and Nokia, you have got the backing of the United States government, as an alternative to Huawei?

BARR: So, I mean, I gave a speech a while back saying that it was -- that the two companies best positioned to compete with Huawei are Ericsson and Nokia.

But unlike Huawei -- Huawei has the backing of the Chinese government and all the Chinese government money. So, just to give you an example, for 5G network facilities, the total global addressable market is probably around $90 billion, and the Chinese government has set up a fund of 100 -- over $100 billion to subsidize it.

So, they can go to countries and say, hey, we will put this in cash-free, very cheap money. So, that's what we're competing against with Huawei.

And companies like Ericsson and Nokia are the strongest Western competitors in this sector.

BARTIROMO: So, you would be OK taking a stake, even if it's a minority stake, in these companies to offset the threat of Huawei, then?

BARR: That's not a decision for the Justice Department. I do think that the West has to pick a horse or horses.

BARTIROMO: Is China using this COVID-19 pandemic to gain leverage and gain territory? We know that the CCP is overreaching in Hong Kong and militarizing the South China Sea.

BARR: I'm concerned that they might think that we are sufficiently distracted by COVID that we won't be able to respond.

And I am concerned that they may think the current environment is one in which they can push the envelope somewhat and take advantage of it.

BARTIROMO: What's most important in terms of protecting U.S. national security?

BARR: First, I think protecting American technological leadership, as I have discussed, and I would also say thwarting their espionage and influence activities are the most important things we can do, and also, through international partners, press the Chinese to play by the rules, play by the rules of the road, which they haven't done.

You know, it's too bad that one of the great tragedies, I think, has -- the Chinese people are a great people, with a great history, very industrious and able. And the hope was that, by bringing them into the world system and economic system, there would be a liberalization of their government.

But I think the Communist Party still has an iron grip on that country. And I think that's unfortunate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAYNE: Anger in Hong Kong after China passes a controversial new law that cracks down on political dissent and could severely restrict civil liberties in the former British colony.

Asia analyst Gordon Chang says this could mean the end of one country/two systems.

He joins us next, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARTIROMO: What really concerns so many people is that this law seems to be sending a warning to the United States and other countries, because several parts of the security legislation take aim at the perceived role of foreigners.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I think anyone at this point that travels to Hong Kong, whether it's an American businessman or a Canadian businessman or anything, for that matter, is out of their minds.

What this basically says now, that law now says that, whether you're a Chinese citizen or a resident of Hong Kong or not, if you have said things or done things critical of the Chinese government, and you step foot on Hong Kong, they now reserve the right to arrest you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: That was Florida Senator Marco Rubio speaking on "Mornings With Maria" after Hong Kong police made dozens of arrests in the first day after the passage of a controversial new national security law, sweeping legislation that could potentially erode any remaining autonomy in the city.

I want to bring in Asia analyst Gordon Chang. He is the author of "The Coming Collapse of China," also a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

Gordon, thanks for joining us.

Senator Rubio suggesting that even American businessmen at this point would be wise to avoid Hong Kong.

Is it that dangerous right now?

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "THE COMING COLLAPSE OF CHINA": Well, it certainly is, because we don't know the scope of this national security law, but, on paper, it gives China the ability to imprison anybody that it wants.

And, indeed, you don't even have to go to Hong Kong to be at risk, because Hong Kong and China have extradition treaties with other countries. And Article 38 of this law says that any comment, any statement on foreign soil by a foreigner is a violation of the national security law if it advocates succession, terrorism, collusion, sedition, all the rest of it.

PAYNE: Gordon, there was a sort of game of cat and mouse, if you will, ahead of the official vote on this.

We knew it was coming. America took action. Congress took action. President Trump took action as well. And still China steamrolled ahead with this anyway.

What's the message that they're sending by -- when it's acknowledged that this has actually galvanized political foes, not just in America, but around the world, ahead of this passage?

CHANG: Yes, China is saying that it not only demands the total obedience of people in China. It demands the total obedience of people in Hong Kong.

And, Charles, let's not make any mistake about this. China demands total obedience from everybody else in the world. It can't enforce that right now, but that really is the message.

PAYNE: The one country/two systems agreement, is that effectively out the window?

CHANG: Yes, it is.

China promised a high degree of autonomy under the one country/two systems formula for 50 years. Now, 23 years in, that's no longer the case, because the national security law allows China to do anything it wants in Hong Kong.

And, indeed, as we talked about, its scope is international. So, comments or activities outside of China and Hong Kong are subject to this national security law.

PAYNE: Gordon, you know the dissidents' movement in Hong Kong pretty well.

Are they going to be able to overcome this, even, of course, in the back -- with the backdrop of coronavirus? Because it feels like China really is -- this is it. They're going to stamp out this potential revolutionary period.

CHANG: I think the answer is yes, because really what we have is more than just a protest movement, Charles. We have an insurgency. And we know that insurgencies can disappear for times, but they can come back, and they usually do.

Now, in Hong Kong, we have seen the pro-democracy forces be intimidated. So, for instance, people deleted their Twitter accounts. They also disbanded pro-democracy organizations. And some people, indeed, have already fled.

But, nonetheless, we did see protests on July 1, which had marked the handover from Britain to China.

PAYNE: All right.

CHANG: So, this is going to continue.

PAYNE: Folks, we will have more with Gordon Chang in just a moment, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: We're back with Gordon Chang.

Gordon, just before your segment, Maria Bartiromo speaking with Attorney General Bill Barr, and she mentioned that a lot of Wall Street folks aren't interested in picking good guys vs. bad guys.

And, of course, it really -- he bristled at the idea that they would think this way, noting that this is not about profits, this is about the future for our children and grandchildren, and maybe Wall Street and these big businesses are not taking that seriously enough.

CHANG: Well, they're certainly not, Charles.

But we have got to remember that business is generally amoral. And it's not up to them to determine national security policy. That's up to the president of the United States.

And it's also up to the president to implement it. So, although I think Wall Street and American business are engaging in really terrible and disgusting tactics, nonetheless, it's up to Washington to stop them.

PAYNE: You know, the same -- by the same token, I was on "FOX & Friends" this morning, and I said, we haven't been paying attention to China.

When I said we, I meant as a nation, because of our media. You have been on this for years. Maria has been on this for at least three or four years. And I think we're overlooking the threat here.

What do you make of that, that this is a building time bomb that we're going to have to deal with at some point, maybe sooner, rather than later?

CHANG: You're absolutely right about that, Charles.

In the last week, we have heard several Chinese officials and former officials talk about an all-out confrontation with the United States. They say they need to prepare for it. Obviously, we're not deterring China.

There's a Chinese military that killed 20 Indian soldiers on June 15. And I think it has not satisfied its bloodlust. So, we have got to be extremely concerned what happens next, because Chinese leaders are engaging in provocative conduct across the world and across their region.

PAYNE: I have got less than a minute to go, Gordon.

But, on that point, I feel like Taiwan might be where we're heading, a confrontation there. If you read between the lines, it looks like that's building pretty rapidly.

CHANG: You're right.

Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, has on a number of occasions this year threatened an invasion of Taiwan. The Chinese officials have warned Secretary of State Pompeo that this is a red line. And, indeed, Chinese military has engaged in some very provocative behavior around Taiwan and over Taiwan.

PAYNE: Gordon Chang, as always, thank you very, very much, a very important topic. And I'm so glad we covered it.

Well, that does it for "Sunday Morning Futures." I'm Charles Payne. And it has been my pleasure to fill in for Maria Bartiromo.

I will be seeing you tomorrow on "Making Money" at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on the FOX Business Network.

Please have a safe and very healthy Fourth of July weekend.

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