Republican Presidential Candidates Trade Barbs Over China Policy

  • Haley calls for ending normal trade relations with Beijing
  • Countering China remains key issue for GOP candidates, voters

The US and China flags stand behind a microphone in Beijing.

Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
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Republican presidential candidates quarreled — and stumbled — over China, with ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley taking aim at her former boss Donald Trump’s policies toward the world’s second-largest economy and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez committing an embarrassing gaffe.

Currently polling in fourth place in a GOP field dominated by the ex-president, Haley said Tuesday that Trump’s China policy didn’t go far enough. Trump “was almost singularly focused” on the trade relationship with China, while ignoring other geopolitical threats, she said.