CHARLESTON: Indian-origin Republican leader Nikki Haley has said that like the erstwhile Soviet Union, Communist China will also end up on the “ash heap of history,” as she issued a stern warning to Beijing in her first public appearance as a 2024 White House hopeful.
Haley, 51, is the two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations made the statement amidst the war of words between the US and China over the recent downing of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over American airspace.
Addressing her enthusiastic supporters at an event here in the coastal city of South Carolina on Wednesday, Haley said: “In this America, the Armed Forces of the United States will be stronger and more capable than ever. A strong military doesn’t start wars. A strong military prevents wars!” “We’ll stand with our allies from Israel to Ukraine and stand up to our enemies in Iran and Russia. And in the America I see, Communist China won’t just lose. Like the Soviet Union before it, Communist China will end up on the ash heap of history!” she said, as she formally launched her 2024 presidential campaign.
Her formal declaration means she will be the first contender to join the contest against her former 76-year-old boss Donald Trump, who announced his third bid for the White House late last year.
“Realising this vision won’t be easy. It will take an unparalleled level of commitment from all of us. It requires faith and a willingness to move past the status quo. And it will require doing some things we’ve never done…,” she said, as she took potshots at US President Joe Biden’s “weakleadership”.