As U.S. elections wind down, so might China-bashing

As the U.S. presidential candidates enter into the final stretch of their months-long campaigns, Election Day, which falls on Tuesday local time, will not only end with the announcement of who will be the next U.S. president, but also, hopefully, with a pause in the China-bashing game.

This year's campaigns marked the first time that the China topic has been so frequently debated, as pointing fingers at China became an easy and convenient way for the two candidates to score political gains while avoiding taking responsibility for mishandling the domestic economy.

As Republican candidate Mitt Romney has often reiterated his threat to designate China a currency manipulator and President Barack Obama has rarely missed an opportunity to tout his "trophy" achievements of getting tough with China while in office, the presidential debate has fallen into a vanity fair for China-bashers competing to denigrate their second-largest trade partner.

If scapegoating and vilifying China are merely campaign tricks, with the heated campaign drawing to an end, it is time for whoever the president-in-waiting is to tone down his tough rhetoric and adopt a more rational stance.

Despite arguments, there is common sense between the United States and China. As the world's largest and second-largest economies, they can not afford to grapple with the backlash of any severe confrontations in any arena.

With bilateral trade standing at nearly half-a-trillion U.S. dollars, tit-for-tat tariffs and, eventually, an all-out economic war will be a disaster for China and the U.S.

Conversely, embracing each other's progress while helping each other ride out hardships will not only make both do better jobs, but also serve to put the global economy onto a faster track for recovery.

U.S. exports to China doubled during President Obama's tenure. It is a good sign of more balanced trade, and this trend should continue further for common prosperity.

The tumultuous global situation also demands that the two countries stay connected in order to keep extremism in check and safeguard world peace and stability. A constructive dialogue between China and the U.S. will surely find more solutions to problems than barriers.

China will begin its once-in-a-decade political hand-over process on Thursday. Important guidelines charting the course of the world's most populous country in the next five to ten years will come to light. Guidelines on how to achieve more scientific and sustainable development through further reforms and on how to peacefully coexist with the rest of the world are expected to be unveiled. Within these guidelines, the U.S. should be able to identify more opportunities to partner with China.

Since China and the U.S. normalized relations in the 1970s, the two countries have been generally moving along the right track, despite some twists and turns. It is better for the next U.S. president, whomever he may turn out to be, to seize the historic chance to extend the partnership.