Former United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Tuesday blamed the Trump administration's 'inconsistent' foreign policy for the current Chinese territorial aggression against its own people and neighbours, including India.
Clinton, who lost to President Donald Trump in the 2016 elections, claimed that both Russia and China are benefitting from his weak foreign policy.
However, the Trump administration has asserted that no administration in the past has been tougher on China than President Trump.
"And if you're China, which is an easy jump to make, and you're looking at the chaos that the Trump administration has created in the world, while you're trying to assert yourself more, while you're cracking down internally on dissent, on the Uyghurs, setting up surveillance nation, trying to dominate the South China Sea, engaging in border skirmishes with India," she said.
The troops of India and China are locked in a standoff in several areas along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh since May 5.
The situation deteriorated last month following the Galwan Valley clashes that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead.
China is also engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.
"All this other activity that we're watching with some concern coming out of China, well, Donald Trump is your biggest ally," Clinton said.
"You know, his being president with his incoherent, inconsistent foreign policy has given you a tremendous opportunity," said the former top American diplomat.
A day after Democratic party's presidential nominee Joe Biden warned that Russia, China, Iran and some other foreign players are working to interfere in the US presidential elections, Clinton told MSNBC in an interview that she is 'glad' that the former vice president and his campaign are speaking out about what they are learning from intelligence briefings.
"It's very clear that Russia succeeded. They believe that they were able to influence the minds and even the votes of Americans, so why would they stop? They really want to pursue their agenda of dividing us, undermining trust within our country, electing, helping to elect someone favourable to their agenda," Clinton said.
Clinton said she was happy that Biden, with all of his experience in foreign affairs from the Senate, was trying to warn the American people that what happened in 2016 and which she claimed was underway again.
Clinton said the US needs to rebuild its alliances with its friends around the world who have been looking at America with confusion, with pity, with deep concern about what this means to the future of democracy and their relationships.
"We're going to have to be very clear with adversaries like Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, that we are back in the business of diplomacy, tough-minded diplomacy, to try to deal with the vacuums that have been created by this administration," she said.
Clinton said bringing America back in the business would take a lot of time and effort and intensive work.
"But it can be done," she said.
"I dare not think about what we would be left with if for some reason, Trump were to be re-elected, because then I think the damage to our institutions, to the rule of law, to America's unity and our role in the world would be much, much harder to repair," Clinton said in response to a question.
