By Michael Martina and Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -China criticized U.S. presidential contender Nikki Haley over her threats to drastically limit Sino-U.S. trade relations, saying those who blamed Beijing for problems would end up on the “ash heap of history.”
Haley, a U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration, staked out one of the most hawkish positions on China in the 2024 Republican presidential field on Tuesday as she accused Beijing of “killing Americans” for failing to help crack down on the fentanyl trade.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, caused almost 80,000 overdose deaths in the United States last year, according to preliminary data released by the U.S. government. China is a major producer of the precursor chemicals needed to make fentanyl, which is frequently smuggled into the United States over the Mexican border.
Haley on Tuesday said the U.S. should revoke China’s permanent normal trade relations status until it helped stem the flow of those chemicals. She also pledged to push American companies to leave China, saying if the U.S. rallied, China’s ruling Communist Party would “end up on the ash heap of history.”
China called such remarks irresponsible.
“Pushing American companies to leave China runs counter to economic laws, and will ultimately harm everyone’s interests,” the spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said in a statement to Reuters late on Tuesday.
“Only those who draw attention by smearing and blame-shifting in the election campaign will end up on the ash heap of history.”
That comment in turn drew a further retort from Haley.
“If the Chinese Communists stopped sending fentanyl across our border, robbing our businesses, spying on us, and militarily threatening our friends, then we would have a much better relationship,” she said in a statement sent to Reuters on Wednesday.
U.S. officials say China’s government has not been cooperative on fentanyl, or on money laundering related to trafficking in the drug.
Beijing has countered that Washington should stop using the fentanyl crisis as a pretext for sanctioning Chinese companies, and Chinese state media outlets have said addiction and demand for the drug are U.S. domestic problems.
Haley is well behind in presidential primary opinion surveys, with just 3% of Republicans planning to vote for her, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released earlier in June.
She has sought to use foreign policy as a way to differentiate herself in a crowded Republican field, and her hardline stance on China could push her rivals to adopt harsher positions as well.
(Reporting by Michael Martina; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
