Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


         Transcript of VOA Interview with Secretary of State John Kerry

   by Scott Stearns

   VOA STATE DEPARTMENT CORESPONDENT SCOTT STEARNS: Mister Secretary thank
   you for being with us.
   SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY: Happy to be with you.
   STEARNS: What's wrong with other countries helping Edward Snowden if
   they believe, to quote the Chinese news agency "that the United States
   is most egregious villain of our time when it comes to cyber-attacks?"
   KERRY: Well, the laws the law. International law is particularly
   important in the world as interconnected as ours. There is a Hong Kong
   US surrender treaty and that treaty should be upheld.
   STEARNS: Is mister Snowden a whistleblower or a traitor?
   KERRY: I believe that he has betrayed his country. Because he took an
   oath. He swore that he would uphold the secrecy he was given access and
   documents based on that trust and he violated that trust. And he hasn't
   violated it any way similar, nothing similar, to Daniel Ellsberg or
   somebody who was reveling that the government was actually lying or
   that had a completely distorted view of something going on. This man
   just took real information and put it out there. Because he happens to
   believe something that is not in fact justified by the facts. And so I
   think he has put counterterrorism at risk. He has put individuals at
   risk. May well be that lives are lost in the United States because
   terrorist now have knowledge of something they need to avoid that they
   didn't have knowledge of before he did this.
   STEARNS: What are you hopes for following the election of any president
   in Iran?
   KERRY: Well I hope that obviously like everybody that Iran will find a
   measure of reasonable with respect to the nuclear program. And
   recognize that they really need to come to the table with proposals.
   And to meet the opportunity that is there to rejoin the community of
   nations by proving that their nuclear program is in fact a peaceful
   program. This is not complicate. If you have a peaceful program, other
   nations have them, they prove it. This is a very clear obligation that
   the Iranians have. And the Chinese the Russians all of the United
   Nations are united in their requirement that Iran has to do this. This
   is not a US demand this is a global demand.
   STEARNS: You said in Doha that a stronger armed opposition in Syria
   would provide a counter weight to President Assad. And listen to
   Hezbollah and Iran in this fight. But might it also be easier to short
   term an increase in the fighting in Syria?
   KERRY: No.  That's that not, the reason for that  whether or not  the
   Unites state is engaged there will be people who fund extremists who
   will continue this fight. And if want to leave it to the extremists we
   then run the risk of much greater damage. Conceivably to Jordan, to
   Israel to Lebanon and in the long run to the region and particularly if
   they were to secure chemical weapons.
   STEARNS: There's an agreement for elections in Mali. The French would
   like to with draw, having pushed these rebels out of the major towns.
   But how does the international community make sure that, what will be a
   willing democracy in Mali, is not threated by a broader terrorist
   movement that challenges elected governments already in Nigeria and
   Niger?
   KERRY: By being involved in a way that helps and supports that new and
   younger government. We are involved in Mali. The French are involved.
   Others are helping. We need to recognize that Mali had become an
   attractive magnet for Al Qaida in the Maghreb. So this is important to
   our security because we know they are targeting not just Malians,
   people in that region. But they are prepared to link up with terrorist
   anywhere and everywhere to try to do harm to almost anybody else who
   doesn't agree with their point of view.
   STEARNS: In closing Brunei at the ASEAN ARF. There are people in South
   East Asia who have concerns that you focus, this second term Obama
   administrations focused on the Middle East process and Syria.
   Diminishes the so called "Asia Pivot." And concerned that Chinese
   increasingly aggressive claim over the South China Sea may, may not be
   pursued. What would you say to your allies in South East Asia about the
   South China Sea?
   KERRY: That I'm there. That I'm here in Brunei. And I'm there for
   reason. And that I was in Japan and in South Korea and in China for a
   reason. And that I will shortly thereafter coming back to go to
   Indonesia, Vietnam, other countries. Because we are paying attention to
   that pivot. What people need to understand is, a country like the
   United States of America, has the ability, and I think we're pretty
   good at it, at dealing with more than one crisis in more than one part
   of the planet at the same time. We've always done that. This is not
   different. People should not think that because we are trying to bring
   peace to an area that has been, that has been, struggling for thirty
   years now under conflict that that means we cant also pay attention to
   these other issues. We just had a major meeting with the president of
   China in California. The vice president has been to the region. He's
   going to go. I'm going to go again. The president has been engaged. So
   I think people need to understand that we are committed to the pivot.
   We remain committed to the pivot. There's nothing we have done that has
   moved away from it. But we are also capable of and intend to pay
   attention to other parts of the world that likewise need some focus.
   STEARNS: Finally, on North Korea. What do you say to the argument that,
   given the North Koreans already have nuclear weapons, why not recognize
   them as a nuclear power and move on?
   KERRY: Because the policy that the United States and of the entire six
   parties that are involved in talks with them as well as most other
   countries in the world, is that they should denuclearize. We will not
   recognize them as a nuclear power. We will not rest until they have
   denuclearized. That is the policy of China I might add. China believes
   they must denuclearize.  Now yes they've had the nuclear test. Yes
   they've fired some missiles. But there is nothing that suggests they
   have the kind of deliverable nuclear weapons system that makes them a
   nuclear power today in the real sense of the word. And the fact is
   where they are today can be undone and should be undone. Because, if it
   isn't then South Korea and Japan will follow. And you will have a much
   dangerous and volatile region than you have today. That's why China is
   so focused on this. And we have high hopes that the Chinese, as they
   indicated to us in the talks at the home in California, that those
   talks will in fact have an impact on Kim Jung Un and he will chose a
   better path.
   STEARNS: Thank you sir.
   KERRY: Thank you.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/transcript-voa-interview-with-secreta
   ry-of-state-john-kerry/1688473.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/transcript-voa-interview-with-secretary-of-state-john-kerry/1688473.html