Recognizing China as 'more harmful than not' a U.S. bipartisan stance: Haley

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Saturday in Taipei that if there is one thing that both the Republican and Democratic parties agree on, it is "the threats of China, and the fact that China is more harmful than not."

At a press conference in Taipei, Haley, who served as the U.S.' top envoy to the U.N. from January 2017 to December 2018 under former President Donald Trump, was asked whether there is a difference in stance on Taiwan between the two main political parties.

"There's not much that they agree on right now in this political cycle," but one thing is for sure is that they agree on the Chinese threat.

She was also asked about how the next U.S. administration under different parties would reshape U.S.-China relations and the consequences for Taiwan.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, while Trump is running again as the Republican nominee in the U.S. presidential election slated for November.

Haley said she believes that under a Trump administration, there would be "more accountability" in the way that China would be held to account.

"That's what happened in the last Trump administration... I think trade would be more strained because we realize that China uses their trade in ways that aren't helpful to free democracies," she said. "[But] under the Harris administration, while they would stand with Taiwan, they have shown themselves to not want to rock the boat," she said.

It was noted by the media however that Trump has recently made negative comments about Taiwan, such as that it should pay for its defense and that it has stolen the U.S. semiconductor business.

To this, Haley did not make a direct response, but said the partnership between Taiwan and the U.S. in the semiconductor industry is "amazing," "when the U.S. can design and Taiwan can manufacture."

She said the partnership is strong and needs to be strengthened further.

On defense, Haley said "it is not about asking Taiwan to pay for their defense," as "Taiwan has placed multiple orders for military equipment."

"It is the fact that we need to increase our partnership and training with them, and we need to make sure that they are a priority when we give them the equipment that they need," she stressed.

Reiterating that Taiwan should get full membership in the United Nations, the former ambassador to the group of nations, said it is full of "hypocrisy" when it trumpets "moral clarity" and "human rights" but acts "like 24 million people don't exist."

"If the U.N. can acknowledge Palestinians as an observer state, I call on the U.N. to acknowledge Taiwan as [at least] an observer state," she said, adding that the World Health Organization (WHO) should do the same.

The U.N. said Taiwan should not be considered a nation because of Resolution 2758 passed in 1971 by which it switched recognition from the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) to the People's Republic of China.

Haley said however it is a resolution that "never mentioned 'Taiwan,'" and the U.N. should not "allow the Chinese Communist Party to hijack a resolution and claim it's about Taiwan."

Stressing that this is a time for the elected officials in Washington to have "a strong spine" and visit Taiwan more, Haley asked them to "stand up and... demand observer status for Taiwan in the U.N." and that Taiwan be in the WHO.

"I think Congress, on both sides, Republicans and Democrats, owe it to Taiwan to not just tell them in back rooms they support them, but stand together at a podium and say, not only do we support Taiwan, these are the actions we're going to take," she added.

Haley encouraged Taiwan to request a hearing on Resolution 2758 and said, "The U.S. should join [Taiwan] in requesting that hearing."

"I would call on all free countries everywhere to join them and to at least acknowledge the topic," she added.

She also said she hopes that "the [U.N.] General Assembly, even if it is a sidebar event," would have an event on Taiwan, "not just to talk about them getting status at the U.N. but to talk about the harassment they're facing every single day from China and what the U.N. countries think that Taiwan should do about it."