The 2016 U.S. presidential election officially kicked off with the caucuses in Iowa this week. Though nine months remain in the race, the "China card" has been played repeatedly by both Republican and Democratic contenders.
It's become routine in U.S. elections of past decades to pounce on China. Constantly accusing China of various "wrongdoings" and blaming the incumbent president for his "soft stance" on China, the candidates often make exaggerated, irresponsible remarks or unrealistic promises about China to woo potential voters.
This has been typical among the GOP candidates. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the winner of Monday's Iowa Republican caucus, said the U.S. should turn the heat up on China and "immediately approve the sale of F-16s to Taiwan." Real estate mogul Donald Trump has vowed to designate China as a "currency manipulator" and to bring back "millions of jobs from China" if elected. Florida Senator Mark Rubio and Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie have both denied China's territorial claims over several islets in the South China Sea, saying the U.S. should "keep sending warships and planes" to the area.
As for the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been relentless in bashing China on the issue of cyber security, accusing the Chinese government of "stealing commercial, military and personal information" through the Internet. And her major rival Bernie Sanders has taken a similar stance against China as Trump regarding the currency exchange rate and jobs.
Similar claims and vows have been heard before during election time, yet China and the U.S. have forged an ever closer relationship in recent decades, with China becoming the U.S.'s biggest trade partner and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries also expanding rapidly.
This new reality means that any chest-puffing during the election campaign won't translate into concrete action by whoever is sworn into office. The reason is simple: pragmatism always prevails when it comes to running a country. Moreover, the world's top two economies are so closely intertwined that their relationship won't be easily undermined by some irresponsible campaign rhetoric.
But the candidates should excercise caution. Irrational claims could lead to misunderstanding and even misjudgment and could cause a setback in bilateral ties.
Since the establishment of bilateral ties in 1979, the China-U.S. relationship has witnessed its ups and downs, and history has shown that the strengthening of the ties requires understanding and trust, not troublemaking.
More importantly, since the U.S. presidential election is, after all, a political process for the American people to choose a competent leader, the candidates are better off focusing on domestic issues, which voters actually care about. The "China card" is mere scapegoating, an indication of a candidate's lack of competence in tackling domestic problems. And it's likely to backfire as most Americans want to see some real change in Washington politics and real solutions to major concerns at home.
