Washington: China under President Xi Jinping has become more aggressive and bullish, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday, asserting that such a behavior is unlikely to last long.
Indian-American Haley, in an interview to Fox News, said the Chinese were quiet and strategic during her tenure at the UN. They moved and made sure that they were trying to get positions in certain areas, and trying to get things done behind closed doors, she said.
“Then once President Xi kind of named himself king, they got very aggressive. They got very bullish. They started to kind of point their fingers in countries’ faces saying, you’d better vote with us. They started to be very aggressive at the UN in wanting positions and wanting to have leadership roles. And they started talking down to everyone,” Haley alleged.
With their Belt and Road initiative, the Chinese started really trying to buy up these infrastructures or partnering with smaller countries on infrastructure projects, she said.
“But yet they go in, they wouldn’t assimilate with the countries. The countries didn’t like their attitude when they were coming in. Now we look at it, it’s getting more aggressive in tone,” said Haley, who resigned as UN ambassador in 2018 after nearly two years in the post.
“But this can’t last. You know, any country that is not letting its people be free, there will be a time when the people rebel. So right now they’re continuing to push, they’re continuing to put pressure on Hong Kong, as we’ve seen. We’re starting to see the pressure go to Taiwan, the South China Sea, in India. All of this is them playing kind of a king of the mountain scenario,” Haley said.
She said the US needs to “let them know we’re on to them, we need to actually follow through on the intellectual property measures that were in that trade deal that we had and hold them accountable”.
Supporting President Donald Trump’s decision to close the Chinese consulate in Houston, Haley alleged that these consulates have been “spy centres” for a long time. (PTI)
