Top U.S. and Australian state and defense officials meet at Stanford

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis met with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Minister for Defense Marisa Payne at Stanford University on Monday and Tuesday.

Among the topics discussed were cybersecurity, North Korea, and how to “maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific” region – referring to the Indian Ocean and adjacent parts of the Pacific, the four officials reported at a press conference Tuesday morning.

The U.S. secretaries and Australian ministers spoke about the two nations’ historical “mateship,” to use an Australian phrase, and their shared goals of denuclearizing North Korea through continued United Nations sanctions and increasing and promoting cybersecurity, among other matters.

Mattis – who was a visiting fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution until his confirmation as secretary of defense – said that he and Payne had signed a memorandum of understanding to promote research and development for cyber capabilities and plan to put forth a work plan.

“Make no mistake about it, the economic relationship between our two countries is strong,” Pompeo said.

The U.S. secretaries also fielded several questions about broader U.S. foreign policy.

Recently, some media outlets have reported that satellite imagery analysis indicates North Korea is working to dismantle its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, where missiles are reportedly tested. Pompeo confirmed Tuesday that the action is “consistent” with the commitment North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un made during negotiations in Singapore last month.

Ultimately, the U.S. would like to see North Korea “completely, fully denuclearize,” Pompeo said.

There has also been a heightening of tensions with Iran over the past week – specifically, President Trump’s all-caps tweet on Sunday directed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which said, in part, “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.”

The response was seemingly to a statement Rouhani made that “war with Iran is the mother of all wars,” and that “peace with Iran is the mother of all peace.”

In May, Trump withdrew the U.S. from a deal with Iran made by President Barack Obama’s administration, which lifted sanctions against the country in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.

When asked to comment on the escalating rhetoric with Iran, Mattis said the Middle Eastern country needs to “show responsibility.”

“It (Iran) cannot continue showing irresponsibility as some revolutionary organization that is intent on exporting terrorism, exporting disruption across the region. So I think the president was making very clear that they’re on the wrong track.”

In Missouri on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. is ready to make a “real deal” with Iran.

Local opposition

Standing next to a large inflatable chicken bearing a resemblance to Trump, about 30 protesters were seen on campus streets after the press conference holding posters and shouting in unison opposition to a range of his policies.

Chants ranged from repetitions of “stolen seat,” referring to the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court; “No War with Iran,” in reference to Trump’s aforementioned tweet; and “Protect our Elections,” referring to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

When asked what issues brought her to the protest, Lori Chaykin of Monte Sereno answered, “What doesn’t?”

Chaykin is an administrator with the San Jose chapter of the activist group Indivisible, an organization started in opposition to the Trump presidency. She is a teacher who said she volunteered in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria last year, opposes children of undocumented immigrants being “locked up,” and has lived in Parkland, Florida, where a high school mass shooting took place in February.

Palo Alto resident Karen, who declined to give her last name, said she learned about the protest through social media but was not part of any organization. She said she hoped to convey the message that she and her colleagues would not stand for the Trump administration, which she said “defile(s) the rule of law.”

Lisa Ferino a Sunnyvale resident and co-director of the Indivisible South Bay chapter, said she has attended a series of protests in previous months in opposition to the Trump travel ban and in support of the Women’s March grassroots political movement. She was at the Stanford protest on Tuesday in opposition to what she termed “open collusion with Russia.”

She said she believes Trump should not have been permitted to go into a room alone with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit held in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, and that the silences of Mattis and Pompeo represented complicity with Trump’s policies.

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