Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley shared her vision to confront China on the domestic, economic, and military fronts while speaking at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Tuesday morning in Washington, DC.
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, was critical of America’s approach to China in recent decades in her 30-minute-long speech.
Haley suggested allowing China into the World Trade Organization in 2001 was a mistake, noting the presumption that China would become more like the West “proved disastrously false.”
“Our thinking neglected the role of communist ideology,” she said. “The Chinese Communist Party [CCP] didn’t want to be like us. It still doesn’t. China grew stronger by taking advantage of our open markets, but it also grew less free.”
She was also critical not only of how President Joe Biden has approached China but also of former President Donald Trump’s strategy.
Haley slammed Biden for “refusing to seriously investigate China’s cover-up of” the coronavirus origins while accomplishing “little to stop the expansion of China’s footprint on our homeland.” Moreover, she added that he has “weakened” the United States military and his embrace of climate issues hurts America’s posture in negotiations with China. She called him out for continuing to “dither” while the situation worsens.
Of Trump, Haley argued he was “singularly focused on our trade relationship with China,” adding that he was correct about the “trade abuses” but “did too little about the rest of the Chinese threat.” Moreover, Trump’s trade deal with America’s advisory “failed to live up to its commitments,” according to Haley.
Haley went on to detail her three-tiered plan, first laying out her domestic policy aimed at stopping Chinese influence in the United States on multiple fronts.
She envisions preventing China from purchasing more American land and “forc[ing] it to sell what it already owns.” Moreover, Haley pointed to Confucius Institutes and similar programs under different names across the country, which are essentially Communist Chinese Party propaganda outlets, at universities across the country, as well as to contributions to American universities from CCP-linked donors as areas of concern.
“We should end this practice,” Haley said. “We should ban all propaganda centers and eliminate federal funding for universities that take Chinese money.”
“Universities must choose – China or America. It shouldn’t be a hard decision,” she added.
Haley advocated for banning individuals or companies tied to the CCP from lobbying in the United States while also stopping ex-members of Congress and military leaders from lobbying on the country’s behalf.
Finally, the candidate zoned in on the fentanyl crisis in the United States. More than 70,000 Americans died from synthetic opioid deaths (primarily fentanyl) in 2021 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported. As Haley noted, most of the precursor chemicals that cartels use to synthesize fentanyl south of the border derive from China.
“We’ve tried sanctions, but they’re not working. We must ratchet up the pressure. As president, I will push Congress to revoke permanent normal trade relations until the flow of fentanyl ends,” she said.
“If China wants to start normal trade again, it has to stop killing Americans,” she continued.
Haley moved on to the second aspect of her plan, “protect[ing] the economy,” which begins with ending “the export of sensitive technology to China,” a country notorious for its intellectual property theft. Haley said:
Advanced technology is especially important. Right now, our federal government keeps a detailed list of the most sensitive technologies that are dangerous to export. But it’s not a blacklist. We still let companies send this tech to China. They just have to file the right application.
It happens all the time. In 2022, the Biden administration approved 70% of licenses for exporting controlled technology to China. Think about that.
Moreover, Haley advocated for blocking China from purchasing companies that work in “advanced technologies” as well as halting investment in pro-CCP companies.
“No more exports and no more acquisitions – period,” she said.
The third over-arching facet of Haley’s China plan is strengthening the military to “meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”
“A stronger military is the linchpin to our national security and to preventing wars,” the former ambassador said.
“Some might wonder if such a build-up is possible in a short timeframe. Our supply chain dependence on China makes it a serious challenge. But it must be done, and it can be done,” she added.
Additionally, Haley called for expanding military ties with Pacific and Asian allies like South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, and the Philippines while also providing “Taiwan everything it needs to defend itself.”
“We should let China know now that an invasion of Taiwan would not just be met with a few slap-on-the-wrist sanctions,” she explained. “It would mean a full-blown economic decoupling that would massively damage China. “
Haley, who has advocated for the continued support of Ukraine without handing them “blank checks,” said that aiding the country in a defeat of Russia would also “be an enormous loss for China – and a true victory for peace.”
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