'China has been practically preparing for war with us for years,' Haley said
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says she's telling 'the hard truths' to voters
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says her apparent upward trajectory in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination comes down to her telling the ‘hard truths.’
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley slammed President Biden for recently sending a handful of cabinet members to China, arguing it was "embarrassing" for the U.S.
"China has been practically preparing for war with us for years," Haley told Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday. "They have killed more Americans than the Iraq … Afghanistan and Vietnam wars combined with their sending fentanyl over. I mean, how much more has to happen for Biden to realize you don't send cabinet members over to China to appease them?
"You start getting serious with China and say, 'We're not going to put up with it.'"
Haley was responding to the Biden administration sending Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on trips to China in recent weeks in a bid to improve relations with the country.
2024 WATCH: NIKKI HALEY SAYS HER MOMENTUM IN GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE COMES DOWN TO THIS
Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa's annual Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, July 28, 2023 (Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg via Getty Image)
"They keep sending different cabinet officials over, Jake, and it's embarrassing," she told Tapper. "You sent Raimondo right after she got hacked, her emails got hacked by the Chinese," Haley added, citing how Chinese hackers breached Raimondo's email in July.
Haley argued that China has purchased more than 400,000 acres on U.S. soil and has stolen billions worth of intellectual property from the U.S., while American law enforcement agencies are using Chinese-made drones to surveil the nation.
The flag of China is flown behind a pair of surveillance cameras outside the Central Government Offices in Hong Kong, China, July 7, 2020. (Roy Liu/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Ninety percent of our law enforcement drones are Chinese. So, while Americans freaked out over the Chinese spy ballon, just imagine what's happening with all these many spy balloons," she told Tapper.
President Biden speaks during an event in the State Dining Room of the White House Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The former ambassador to the United Nations added that Biden should take a much stronger approach with China and not dispatch officials in an act to "appease" the adversary.
President Biden and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (Getty/AP)
"We should say, ‘You’re not buying any more U.S. soil, and we’re going to take back what you’ve already bought.' We’re gonna go and make sure that we don’t have Chinese infiltration in our universities because our universities are going to have to pick between Chinese money or American money," she said.
"We’re going to end all normal trade relations with China until they stop killing Americans with fentanyl. And then we’re going to build up our military because China now has the strongest naval fleet in the world."
