Nikki Haley, Donald Trump's former rival for the US Republican presidential nomination , said today that isolationism is not healthy and that the party should support the country's allies, especially when it comes to China, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Taiwan, Haley - a Trump-era ambassador to the United Nations who has since run against him - said it was important to support Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel.
"I don't think an isolationist approach is healthy. "I think America can never sit in a bubble and think we're not going to be affected," she said.
Trump's efforts to return to the White House have raised concerns about isolationism among US allies.
During her campaign, Haley called Trump unelectable and unfit for office, but last month she urged her supporters to vote for the former president. He faces the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the Nov. 5 election.
Trump unnerved Taiwan, a democratically-ruled island claimed by China, in July by saying that "Taiwan should pay for our defense” and that the island nation took away the semiconductor business from the Americans.
"What I want to see the Republican Party talk about is freedom, support for our allies, and confidence that we are showing strength around the world,” Haley said in Taipei.
"We don't want to see Communist China win, we don't want to see Russia win, we don't want Iran or North Korea to win.“
After meeting with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te and other dignitaries, Haley said support for Taiwan is an issue on which both Republicans and Democrats agree.
Meanwhile, the Philippines called on Beijing to "immediately end all provocative and dangerous actions” after accusing it of “unjustified” firing of flares from the Chinese-occupied Subi Reef on August 22, while a Manila plane was on patrol, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
That same plane, a statement from the Philippine South China Sea Task Force said, also "has been harassed” by a Chinese fighter jet while conducting surveillance near Scarborough Shoal on August 19.
There was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Manila, Reuters noted.
It is an aircraft of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
According to GMA News TV, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that countermeasures were taken on August 22 against "two Philippine military aircraft that entered Chinese airspace”.