China Bashing on the Campaign Trail

The Republican Presidential candidates routinely excoriate President Obama, and his dealings with China are no exception. In recent GOP debates, Obama’s would-be successors have jockeyed over who, as President, would come down most forcefully on Beijing. Mitt Romney has worked up the sharpest rhetoric, saying the Chinese are “stealing our jobs” and calling them “cheaters” and “currency manipulators” conducting a trade war against the U.S. Romney has made it known that his administration would take a much harder line on everything from currency issues to intellectual property rights. “We’re going to stand up to China,” he vowed in the Nov. 12 debate in South Carolina.

That kind of talk resonates with voters, especially in a weak economy. But would Romney’s election, or anybody else’s, bring meaningful changes in U.S. policy? Don’t bet on it. Castigating the White House as weak on China—while promising to be much tougher—is a tradition among Presidential aspirants of both parties that stretches back for decades. Rarely do they follow through once in office.