Mazie Hirono actually said...

"It will be a long time before China is ready to be in something like TPP, but I think the Chinese leaders see momentum behind it."

"I would say the countries we are dealing with in TPP--they would be much better off in the kind of system that we are promoting as opposed to dealing with a huge, powerful entity like China."

"We need to provide a lot more of that kind of focused attention, face time, acknowledgement of the importance of those alliances."

"The Southeast Asian allies and likeminded partners are going to be key going into the future."