Home > News Archive > What do the candidates say about US-China relations?

What do the candidates say about US-China relations?

By Ivan Velinov | Epoch Times

CHINA CHALLENGE: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (L) and Republican presidential candidate John McCain (R) visit Ground Zero during ceremonies marking the 7th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre last Thursday in New York City.Getty Images/Mark Wilson/USA

As the U.S.-China trade deficit continues to grow, Senators McCain and Obama expressed a pressing need for a change of the communist regime’s currency practices, making Chinese products “unfairly cheap.” Last year alone, the trade deficit with China hit a record $256.3 billion.

Republican nominee McCain, who previously said that he would not impose tariffs on Chinese imports, chastised China for not allowing the value of its currency, the yuan, to rise against the dollar.

“It’s [China’s] commitment to open markets must include enforcement of international trade rules, protecting intellectual property, lowering manufacturing tariffs and fulfillment of its commitment to move to a market-determined currency,” said McCain.

Democratic nominee Obama, who to the contrary supports steep tariffs on imports from China if the communist regime keeps their currency from rising, said:

“Central to any rebalancing of our economic relationship with China must be change in its currency practices. Because it pegs its currency at an artificially low rate, China is running massive current account surpluses. This is not good for American firms and workers, not good for the world, and ultimately likely to produce inflation problems in China itself.”

Since the Chinese yuan was last revalued by 2.1 percent to 8.11 yuan per dollar in July 2005, and was freed from the dollar peg to float within government-controlled margins, the Chinese currency has appreciated 18.47 percent more, reaching an exchange rate of about 6.85 yuan per dollar.

The rival senators agreed that they want China to grant citizens wider rights, and emphasized security as a global concern in light of the country’s growing military power. The Senators also showed concerns over environmental and economic issues that have strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

McCain suggested that China should be more transparent and prove its claim that it is “peacefully rising,” offering an explanation for its significant military buildup.

“In addition, how a nation treats its citizens is a legitimate subject of international concern in today’s world,” McCain said, adding that a government must also be responsible at home, in protecting the rights of its people.

Senator Obama said that China cannot stand endlessly alienated from the global trend toward democratic government, adding that protection of the unique cultural and religious traditions of Tibet and similar human rights reforms will not weaken China, as its leaders may fear, but will bring long-term stability and prosperity.

“Protecting the human rights of all its people and moving toward democracy and rule of law will better enable China to achieve its full potential as a nation, domestically and internationally,” said Obama.

In spite of disputes over energy policies, Democratic and Republican candidates found some common ground in vowing to bring China into more stringent international commitment to control greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

“If we are going to establish meaningful environmental protocols, they must include the two nations — China and India — that have the potential to pollute the air faster, and in greater annual volume, than any nation ever in history,” said McCain.

“The climate change challenge demands that the United States and China develop much higher levels of cooperation without delay. For too long, however, each has pointed a finger at the other’s attitudes as an excuse for not itself doing more,” Obama said.

At present, China and the U.S. are the world’s two biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that scientists link to climate change. The two countries will play an important role in negotiations to craft a global climate agreement to build on the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012.

Copyright © 2008 The Epoch Times

Published in The Epoch Times