The coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a diplomatic war of words between China and US which continues to grow daily. On Tuesday Indian American Republican politician Nikki Haley said the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the need for the United States to move away from its reliance on communist China. “While Beijing has abused the free market in order to destroy it, America must harness the free market to protect our freedom and national security,” Nikki Haley, a former Governor of South Carolina and US Ambassador to the United Nations said in an op-ed on Medium.

Haley said, the US should start by setting up stronger guards to prevent China from exploiting America’s economic openness and punish it for its predatory actions.

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“It involves pushing back against Beijing’s manipulation of international forums like the World Trade Organization. It means ensuring that our most important security-related industries – from essential medicine to semiconductors – have American-friendly supply chains, instead of depending on an authoritarian rival state,” she wrote.

The statement comes after US President on Tuesday threatened to pull out US from World Health Organisation (WHO) unless it makes “major substantive improvements” which the president did not explain.

In a four-page letter to the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump said the organisation had shown an “alarming lack of independence” from China and accused Tedros of presiding over “repeated missteps … that have been extremely costly for the world”. The letter, he said, followed a US investigation into the WHO’s “failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak”.

This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020

Nikki Haley suggested that the US should adopt an approach similar to the Cold War times when it crafted new policies to check Soviet military technological progress, which included export control and trade promotion.

“Now, it’s time to take a similar approach with Communist China. The coronavirus pandemic has shown just how dependent we are on that country for vital medical supplies, from specific drugs to much-needed personal protective equipment. This crisis is as dangerous as the coronavirus itself, and addressing it should be one of our top priorities,” she wrote.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations said the country’s reliance on China for medical supplies was clear from the early stages of the pandemic as people rushed to purchase masks, gloves, and hospitals tried to stock up on everything they needed, resulting in shortages.

“China, which controls nearly half of all US-imported personal protective equipment, was hoarding material for itself while banning companies from exporting their products,” she alleged.

“All of this leaves us less safe and jeopardises American lives in a time of crisis,” Nikki Haley said, alleging it’s part of the strategic plan of China’s communist rulers.

“Beijing has long had its sights on capturing the world’s most important supply chains to give it an edge over America and the free world,” Nikki Haley wrote. She said to accomplish this goal, the Chinese Communist Party used its state-led economic model to manipulate the market to its advantage, often illegally. “Among other things, China has subsidised competitors to US companies and ordered the theft of their trade secrets and intellectual property,” she claimed.

She further said in near future, China is especially focused on controlling the cutting-edge technology of 5G, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and robotics.

“The Chinese communists envision an authoritarian world where they call the shots and command an unbeatable technological edge. They’re working overtime to make that vision a reality. This is where America must respond – and lead,” she said.