The two main US presidential hopefuls on Tuesday clashed on China and economic issues, with the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris saying that her opponent, former US president Donald Trump, “sold us out” on China, while Trump said that the administration of Harris and US President Joe Biden had “destroyed the economy.”
“He ended up selling American chips to China to help them improve and modernize their military,” Harris said. He “basically sold us out when a policy about China should be in making sure the United States of America wins the competition for the 21st century.”
Harris’ comments came as she and Trump crossed swords on various economic issues including the cost of living, inflation and her position on fracking.
Photo: AFP
“He invited trade wars,” Harris said, referring to a tit-for-tat escalation of tariffs between the US and China during Trump’s time as president from 2017 to 2021.
With Trump proposing across-the-board tariffs of 10 percent to 20 percent on all imports if re-elected, Harris likened the plans to a “sales tax” — given concerns that costs could be passed on to consumers.
Trump is looking to impose a higher level of levies on imports from China, at 60 percent.
Trump, the Republican candidate, said that Harris “has no policy” and said the Biden-Harris administration kept his administration’s tariffs on China in place.
Trump also honed in on the issue of fracking, saying that Harris “will never allow fracking.”
“If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one,” he added, in a nod to 2019 comments that she would ban it.
Trump spoke about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to be over, saying that the war had killed “millions” since Russia invaded in 2022.
The UN says that 11,700 civilian deaths have been verified.
He said that Harris had bungled a diplomatic mission just days before Russia launched the invasion.
“Do you want Ukraine to win this war?” moderator David Muir of ABC News asked Trump.
“I want the war to stop,” Trump said. “I want to save lives.”
Trump said he would have a peace deal done between Ukraine and Russia within a day if he is elected.
“The reason that Donald Trump says that this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it up,” Harris said.
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS