Accusation reflects lack of confidence in campaign: expert
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's strongly worded comments against China have further angered Chinese netizens, many of whom have already formed the impression that she is "hostile" toward China.
Analysts said that there are increasing fears that if she is elected president, this would further deepen mistrust.
Clinton, a former secretary of state who is making another run at the White House in 2016, accused China on Saturday of "trying to hack into everything that doesn't move in America" and stealing government information.
"Make no mistake, they know they're in competition - and they're gonna do everything they can to win," she told Democratic supporters at a campaign event in New Hampshire.
Clinton's speech on Sunday angered Chinese netizens, many of whom commented that her election would "send Sino-U.S. relations to a new low point." Some Net users accused her of stirring up trouble.
Analysts believe Clinton's accusations against China, her most strongly worded since her declaration to run for U.S. president, reflect her lack of confidence in her presidential campaign.
"It is indiscreet of Hillary to make a speech like that. As a former chief diplomat, she should be professional and prudent enough to refrain from making such comments about other countries," said Jin Canrong, vice director of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China.
"Hillary doesn't have much of a lead in Iowa, so she needs some dramatic comments to attract public attention. Her China comments show that she is not as confident as she appears to be," said Jin, adding that it has almost become "common practice" for US politicians to attack China in an election year to win votes.
The U.S. has in recent years blamed several cyber hacks on Beijing. In the most recent case, several US officials accused China of being the "lead suspect" in a massive breach affecting the personal data of millions of U.S. government employees, an accusation the White House has been reluctant to pin on Beijing.
China has repeatedly denied the charges and dismissed them as "absurd logic."
Clinton also criticized Beijing's South China Sea policy.
"I want to see a peaceful rise for China," Clinton said.
"I worked very hard on that as secretary of state, I will continue to do so. But we also have to be fully vigilant that China's military is growing very quickly and they are establishing military installations that again threaten countries we have treaties with, like the Philippines, because they are building on contested property."
"Hillary's speech shows her two-faced attitude toward China," Ni Feng, vice director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. "As a politician, she has to be tough on China to show she has the ability to protect U.S. interests. And as a former secretary of state, she knows the necessity of maintaining good relationships with China."
Shi Yinhong, director of the Renmin University Center on American Studies, said Clinton's comments regarding welcoming a peaceful rise for China "cannot be trusted" given her long history of harshness toward China.
Clinton has in the past publicly criticized Beijing's human rights record as being "deplorable" and called China's detention of five Chinese feminist activists "inexcusable" on Twitter. Her comments were seen by some as meddling in China's domestic affairs.
"If Hillary takes office, she may implement a tougher policy toward China than Obama, but to what degree remains uncertain," said Ni.
During her speech, Clinton also said that engagement was the best option when it comes to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We have to be much smarter in how we deal with Putin and how we deal with his ambitions," she said. "I've dealt with him. I know him. He's not an easy man."
