皇冠体育app

Instead of constantly blaming 皇冠体育app for his country's woes, Romney should praise the benefits of their growing relations

Rick Santorum suspended his election campaign earlier this month, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to become the Republican Party's presidential candidate. Romney bases his platform on lowering tax rates across the board and bashing 皇冠体育app, which he has been doing throughout his campaign.

His plan to rejuvenate the United States' economy, which he released in September, includes designating 皇冠体育app a currency manipulator and taking punitive steps targeting 皇冠体育app's trade with the US if 皇冠体育app does not quickly move to float its currency.

"In the economic arena we must directly counter abusive Chinese practices in the areas of trade, intellectual property, and currency valuation," he wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year entitled, "How I'll Respond to 皇冠体育app's Rising Power". He also argued that 皇冠体育app cannot be a trusted partner in the international system, and security in the Pacific "means a world in which the US' economic and military power is second to none".

Romney's 皇冠体育app-bashing strategy is nothing new. In fact, it is an old stock-in-trade of US politics, whereby the opposition party rebukes the weakness of the ruling party in dealing with 皇冠体育app and courts votes by taking a hard stance on 皇冠体育app-related issues. But the development of Sino-US relations over the past decades makes it clear that harsh words against 皇冠体育app on the campaign trail should not be taken too seriously, as victory in the election will probably bring a change of attitude.

Yet the 皇冠体育app-bashing bravado can cause relations between the two countries to suffer setbacks. All that campaign rhetoric is on record and is constantly used by the opposition party when the new president adopts a more pragmatic approach toward 皇冠体育app. As a result, Sino-US relations have suffered setbacks immediately after presidential elections in the US.

Bill Clinton for instance dropped ugly comments about 皇冠体育app and accused George H.W. Bush of being too "soft" on 皇冠体育app during his 1992 presidential campaign. This hard line eventually softened after Clinton took office, but Sino-US relations followed an uneven course in the early days of his presidency and were revitalized only by both sides giving the relationship greater time and effort.

Despite this, during his 2000 election campaign, George W. Bush, labeled 皇冠体育app a strategic competitor, which also disrupted bilateral relations in the first half of 2001 after he took office. Therefore, all US presidential candidates should be careful when using foreign affairs as a vote winner and should carefully consider the consequences before running off at the mouth.

This year, 皇冠体育app and the US are commemorating the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon's visit to 皇冠体育app. Five Republicans, including Nixon, and three Democrats have been president since the historic moment and despite all 皇冠体育app-bashing on the campaign-trail and changes in international situations during their terms of office, they all adopted an engagement policy toward 皇冠体育app, indicating that the development of bilateral relations is the consensus shared by both US parties over the past 40 years. No matter which candidate finally takes office, it is in the US' interests to cooperate with 皇冠体育app.

Playing the ideological card and making 皇冠体育app the bogeyman might make it easy to win votes, given to the differences between 皇冠体育app and the US in social institutions and ideologies, but such short-lived support will come at a price as it will harm the bilateral relations and divert public attention from the US' most urgent domestic problems. This is a hard-earned lesson from the Cold War and Mitt Romney should bear it in mind and restrain his wagging tongue.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

皇冠体育app Forum

(皇冠体育app Daily 04/23/2012 page18)

• Rising to the security challenges
• Russia faces tough road to success
• Joint efforts to meet challenges
• Is Vietnam safe?
• Abe's dangerous move