Carly Fiorina joins 2016 presidential race

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, became the second woman to enter the 2016 presidential race, joining a Republican field that could include more than a dozen contenders for the White House.

Speaking on ABC television, Mrs Fiorina said she was running for president because she was "the best person for the job because I understand how the economy actually works".

The Republican field is expected to be the widest and most diverse in years, in contrast to Democratic competition, where Hillary Clinton's only challenger so far is Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont. The number of contenders and looser rules on fundraising mean the 2016 race could see twice as much money spent as the $2.6bn dispensed in the 2012 campaign.

Mrs Fiorina is the fifth GOP member to announce a run for the White House, joining three senators - Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio - and Ben Carson, a little-known doctor who unveiled his ambitions on Sunday.

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is expected to reveal his plans tomorrow, while Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, and Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor, are both preparing to launch campaigns.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mrs Fiorina said her foreign policy priorities would include taking a tougher stance on Russia, China and Iran. On Russia, she said the US should rebuild the navy's Sixth Fleet - which operates in waters around Europe - and should provide arms to Ukraine.

Mrs Fiorina said China was an "increasing concern" due to its refusal to live up to World Trade Organisation commitments on issues such as intellectual property, and its behaviour in the South China Sea.

"They are . . . extremely assertive in their territory, particularly from a maritime point of view, as well as in the air. That is grave concern," said Mrs Fiorina. "We need to be working with our allies in that region to bolster them as a way of sending a clear message to China that their assertiveness will not go unchecked."

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Mrs Fiorina has attacked Mrs Clinton on issues ranging from her record on women's rights to questions about the propriety of foreign donations to her family's charitable organisation.

"She tweets about women's rights in this country and takes money from governments that deny women the most basic human rights," Mrs Fiorina said about Mrs Clinton at a conservative conference in February. "Hillary likes hashtags. But she doesn't know what leadership means."

Mrs Fiorina will seek to convince voters that her experience in corporate America, and in particular her five-and-a-half year tenure at the helm of HP, is something she can translate to the oval office.

"I understand executive decision-making, which is making the tough call in the tough time with high stakes for which you're prepared to be held accountable," she said on ABC on Monday morning.

In meetings with reporters in recent months, Mrs Fiorina has likened foreign policy intricacies, such as negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, to the challenges of corporate dealmaking, such as sealing HP's $25bn tie-up with Compaq in 2001.

<>However, it is Mrs Fiorina's controversial record as a businesswoman, rather than her sparing political bona fides, that may be her nascent campaign's greatest weakness. She was forced to resign from HP in 2005 amid bitter infighting on the board and is loathed by many current and former executives at the Silicon Valley stalwart.

Mrs Fiorina likes to say that she boosted sales and cash flow, but HP's stock price halved during her time as CEO while profits dropped. The Democratic National Committee said her candidacy showed "how out of touch the Republican Party" was with the needs of ordinary Americans.

"While she is attempting to run on her business record, it consists of mass lay-offs, tumbling stock prices, and a failed merger. If this is how Fiorina ran her business, just imagine what she would do to the country," the DNC said.

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