Democratic Washington Rep. Adam Smith called Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley “irresponsible” on Monday for her Sunday comments on China, but then admitted her comments were “true.”
Speaking on Fox News, Haley said the White House needs to be tougher when dealing with Beijing.
“We do need to strengthen our military and we have to make sure we’re right. China has been preparing for war with us for decades. And the way we have to deal with China is not look at it tomorrow, because if we keep waiting to deal with them tomorrow, they will deal with us today.”
MSNBC’s Katty Kay asked Smith, who is a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, about the comments.
“When you hear Nikki Haley saying that that China is preparing for war with the United States, there is a lot of bipartisanship, and quite hawkishness when it comes to China at the moment, but do you worry that things have got too far when you hear a presidential candidate saying that China is actually preparing for war with America?”
“I think that is a very dangerous and very irresponsible way to put it. I mean, it’s technically true, OK, in the sense that China’s worried about us, and we’re worried about them, and we’re building national security and defenses on both sides, you know, contemplating if a conflict came, how would we deal with it and also upfront, to have sufficient weapons sufficient defense to deter that conflict,” Smith said. “But the way Nikki Haley put it, it implies that China’s getting ready to launch a war with us. And that’s not actually what’s going on.” (RELATED: ‘Setting The Theater’: US, Allies Are Preparing For Conflict In The Pacific)
“China is trying to bully their way into much of the world. Taiwan is the most obvious example. Our CODEL that was led by Chairman Rogers who’s the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and we had nine members on that trip. We went to Taiwan, and we talked to them about that. But China’s also threatening the sovereignty and integrity of at least a half dozen nations around them, from India to the Philippines, Indonesia. They’re trying to push their way in globally. They’re even overfishing and as far away as around Latin America, and they’re trying to use their power to do that. And — and — and the threat of their military is one aspect of that. We need to build a coalition to push back on that. We don’t need to be talking about war as if it is inevitable. That is a very dangerous way to put it.”
Chinese scientists recently published a combat simulation in which Beijing’s forces annihilated a U.S. aircraft carrier and supporting ships with hypersonic strikes. Experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the war game may be intended to send a message about China’s capabilities while other suggested there may be real-world relevance.
China’s defense minister also recently warned the U.S. against growing escalation between the two nations, saying the war would be “an unbearable disaster for the world.”