Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley on Friday termed the ruling Democratic Party a 'socialist' party and said that "Communist China" is the strongest and the most disciplined enemy that the United States has ever faced.

While addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference — the top annual event of the Republican Party and its support base — Indian American Haley focused on America’s foreign policy, wherein she asserted that the US should not give aid to countries that hate it.

Referring to a recent spy balloon incident, Nikki Haley termed it a "national embarrassment" and said, “Never in my life did I think Americans would look at the sky and see a Chinese spy balloon looking back at us. It was a national embarrassment,” she said.

“Make no mistake, Communist China is the strongest and most disciplined enemy we have ever faced. We need to hold China accountable. Let us start with Covid. And before we even talk about the cartels, we need to confront the fact that China is the one sending the fentanyl across our border,” Haley was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, announced her presidential run on February 14. She would be fighting against her former boss and former president Donald Trump and is the only woman in the 2024 presidential race so far.

“I cannot believe what Joe Biden is letting China get away with. Chinese companies now own more than 380,000 acres of American soil, some of it right next to our military bases. What are we doing? We should never let an enemy buy land in our country. And we need to tell every university — you can either take Chinese money or American money, but you will no longer get both,” Haley said, articulating her policy on China.

Hayley said that China thinks the American era has passed and so do all the enemies of the US, but they are wrong. “America is not past our prime. It is just that our politicians are past theirs,” she was quoted by PTI as saying.

In her speech, Haley was very critical of the ruling Democratic Party, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

She said she was running for president to stop America’s downward spiral toward socialism and end the self-loathing that has taken over the country. “I am running for president to renew an America that is strong and proud, not weak and woke,” she said.

Criticising the ruling party and President, Haley said Biden and the Democrats are giving Americans oppression, poverty and lawlessness. She also asserted that she had entered the race for the White House to overturn this.

Haley urged her fellow Republicans to vote for the younger generation. “If you are tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win — not just as a party, but as a country — then stand with me,” she said.