US presidential candidate Nikki Haley seeks major changes in China policy

‘Communist China is the greatest threat to American security and prosperity by far,’ says the Republican, who was UN ambassador under Donald Trump
Her remarks come after years of hawkish comments about Beijing

US-China relations

Bochen Hanin Washington

Published: 3:49am, 28 Jun 2023

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Nikki Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN who is now running for the Republican presidential nomination, vowed on Tuesday to bring about a “sea change” in US policy towards China and do “whatever it takes” to protect the American people – including a “full-on decoupling” if necessary.

Speaking on the future of US-China policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank, Haley said responding to the threat of China was a central tenet of presidential leadership.

“Communist China is the greatest threat to American security and prosperity by far,” she said. “We need a leader who will rally our people to meet this threat on every single front.”

Haley highlighted China’s role in the production of fentanyl, an addictive painkiller fuelling America’s opioid crisis, and said she would push Congress to revoke China’s permanent normal trade relations status until the flow of fentanyl into the US stops.

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Congress granted Beijing the status in 2000 as the US supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization, which Haley said on Tuesday was based on a “disastrously false” assumption that it would make China more free and open.

Former president Donald Trump continues to dominate Republican primary surveys. According to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, Haley currently captures about 4 per cent of voters and is in fourth place after Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence.

Haley’s speech, parts of which were published on Monday in The Wall Street Journal, touched on widely held Republican priorities on China.

She raised concerns over China’s military build-up and domestic human rights abuses, as well as its intervention attempts in the US, noting its targeting of critical infrastructure, purchase of US land, presence in university campuses and the political lobbying process, and “stealing” of US intellectual property.

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She referred to recent reports about Beijing’s actions – including the surveillance balloon that flew over the US and Chinese interception of a US fighter jet in the South China Sea – as “purposeful actions of a communist dictatorship”, and criticised Beijing for not holding defence talks with Washington.

Haley, the child of Indian immigrants and a former governor of South Carolina, is campaigning on her foreign policy credentials and has consistently lambasted US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, for being weak on China.

In a Washington Post editorial before Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China last week, she said Biden had “utterly failed” in his dealings with Beijing.

Haley also said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s call for “constructive and fair” economic relations with China was “insane” – a point she reiterated on Tuesday.

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Asked what she thought about Blinken’s trip, Haley said that she “[didn’t] mind” the visit as communication with “enemies” like China is necessary but that she had a problem with the way interaction with Beijing was being conducted.

Looking to strengthen economic ties and negotiate a climate deal does not acknowledge US priorities, she said, referring to Yellen’s comments about bilateral economic relations and US climate envoy John Kerry’s attempts to engage Beijing on climate change.

She also called for blocking American investments and exports that feed Beijing’s military or Communist Party apparatus; and the need to bring allies in line with the American stance on China. It’s time to “shake [Europeans] from their slumber,” she said.

Taiwan is an especially important US partner, Haley added. But when asked whether recognising its independence would help prevent war, Haley said the Taiwanese have not yet asked for independence, only to be left alone. Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.

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Haley declined to address whether the US should abandon its policy of “strategic ambiguity” towards Taiwan and stressed that it was important to build up the US military to prepare for potential Chinese aggression, including by speeding up the Pentagon’s procurement process.

Her remarks come after years of hawkish messaging towards Beijing, including tweets saying Covid-19 “likely” came from a Chinese lab.

Haley served as United Nations ambassador under president Donald Trump from January 2017 to December 2018. After leaving the post, she accused Beijing of “quietly working to corrupt the United Nations”.

On Tuesday, she gave Trump credit for upending what she called a bipartisan consensus that opening the Chinese economy to the world would make Beijing more democratic. But she also criticised him for focusing too much on the trade relationship and for congratulating the People’s Republic of China on its 70th anniversary.

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All four leading Republican candidates have pushed a hard line on China. Weeks ahead of announcing his presidential run, DeSantis signed into law three bills to “counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida”.

Haley has also used China to frame her position on other global issues like Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Our policy should be to help Ukraine reclaim its territory and bring this war to a quick and decisive end,” she said. “If we do that, China will see our resolve and rethink its plans on Taiwan.”