Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina stated that when China’s ships approach the Bering Strait “our warplanes ought to go out and escort them,” and the US should talk with China “about perhaps asking them to play by the same rules in our marketplace that they force us to play by in their marketplace” on Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.”
Fiorina said that while she wouldn’t cancel the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, she “wouldn’t make it a huge photo op,” but rather a “serious negotiation.”
She continued, “now is the time to put pressure on China in all kinds of ways,” and that there is “no question” China is a “rising adversary,” cheated on trade deals, and engaged in cyber espionage and attacks.
Fiorina called for air and sea patrols of the South China trade route before stating, “Number two, when their ships come close to the Bering Strait, our warplanes ought to go out and escort them.” She also said American allies should be given technology and equipment they have requested, so they can help the US with “more aggressive patrolling of the disputed territories on which China is now building military bases.”
She concluded that during the state visit, the US “ought to be talking, very seriously, about their failure to protect our intellectual property, which they agreed to do when they joined the WTO, and have never done. And we ought to be talking with them as well, about perhaps asking them to play by the same rules in our marketplace that they force us to play by in their marketplace. We are their largest market, that gives us huge leverage.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett