Chris Christie: I'll fly Air Force One over the disputed China islands to show them we mean business

Advertisement

chris christie fox business debate

Fox Business Network/screengrab

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R).

During Tuesday night's Republican "undercard" debate on Fox Business, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said he'd fly Air Force One over disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Advertisement

Tensions over freedom of navigation in the South China Sea have been boiling for months. The US sent a guided missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of one of China's artificial islands last month, and China has ramped up threatening rhetoric over what it called "rampant US violations of China's adjacent waters and the skies over those expanding islands."

In response to a question about China hacking and spying on the US, Christie brought up the disputed islands that China is turning into military bases.

"I'll fly Air Force One over those islands," Christie said. "They'll know we mean business."

Christie also called President Barack Obama's and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's foreign policy "feckless" and "weak."

Advertisement