WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States should emulate China’s artificial island construction projects in ignoring international criticism and environmental protests when it builds a security wall along its border with Mexico, US presidential candidate Donald Trump told a rally in Walterboro, South Carolina.
"You have China building a massive, massive fortress," Trump told the rally on Friday night. "They are building an island in the South China Sea… They came up with the idea at 4 o'clock on Friday afternoon and they started excavation of Saturday morning."
Trump, a billionaire businessman, told the audience that if elected president of the United States, he would push ahead with similar energy and determination to construct a massive wall across the US border with Mexico to ensure all immigration was legal and controlled.
"We're going to have people come in through our border… but they are going to come in legally," he said.
Trump was speaking on the evening before the South Carolina primary, where opinion polls have given him a strong lead with around 35 percent of the Republican vote compared to 18 percent for US Senator Ted Cruz with US Senator Marco Rubio expected to come in third place.