White House hopefuls have finally found something to agree on: China is the worst. Wall Street will have to make way for the newest punching bag for America's 2016 presidential candidates. From across the political spectrum the field has diverse -and ridiculous - reasons for disrespecting Asia's superpower.
This week, White House wannabes trotted out sharp sound bites to blame someone for several days of stock market losses. Real estate mogul Donald Trump claimed turmoil in China's equity market drove the problem to America's shores. He also criticised how tightly US markets are tied to China's economy and complained Americans are letting the Chinese dictate the agenda. Another Republican, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said Beijing's devaluation of the yuan sent markets crashing.
These beefs join a long laundry list of grievances against the Middle Kingdom. Walker joked that hacking by China and Russia enabled them to know more than Americans do about Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's emails, some of which were contained on personal instead of government servers while secretary of state. The barb fits amusingly well with Clinton's own criticism of the Chinese, who she says try to "hack into everything that doesn't move in America".
Another Republican contender, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, in addition to complaining about China's hacking also awkwardly deflected recent criticism for using the term "anchor babies" - a derogatory reference to children born to foreign women on US soil who automatically become citizens - saying he wasn't referring to Mexican but to Chinese mothers. That's as Florida Senator Marco Rubio, another hopeful, called China's leaders tyrants on Friday.
Rounding out the Republican field, Carly Fiorina, who as former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard must know a thing or two about contract manufacturing in China, has denounced Chinese aggression in Asia. On the other end of the spectrum, socialist sweetheart, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders opposes permanent normal trade relations with China, which he says kill American jobs.
While just populist noise for now, whoever wins will need to actually carry on an actual relationship with the red dragon. And insulting the nation won't help make President Xi Jinping's November US visit any more productive. That might be a-okay with Trump, who said he'd end lavish state dinners with China and instead get Xi a McDonald's double Big Mac. But the risk is that long-term damage will be done.
This week, White House wannabes trotted out sharp sound bites to blame someone for several days of stock market losses. Real estate mogul Donald Trump claimed turmoil in China's equity market drove the problem to America's shores. He also criticised how tightly US markets are tied to China's economy and complained Americans are letting the Chinese dictate the agenda. Another Republican, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said Beijing's devaluation of the yuan sent markets crashing.
These beefs join a long laundry list of grievances against the Middle Kingdom. Walker joked that hacking by China and Russia enabled them to know more than Americans do about Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's emails, some of which were contained on personal instead of government servers while secretary of state. The barb fits amusingly well with Clinton's own criticism of the Chinese, who she says try to "hack into everything that doesn't move in America".
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Rounding out the Republican field, Carly Fiorina, who as former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard must know a thing or two about contract manufacturing in China, has denounced Chinese aggression in Asia. On the other end of the spectrum, socialist sweetheart, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders opposes permanent normal trade relations with China, which he says kill American jobs.
While just populist noise for now, whoever wins will need to actually carry on an actual relationship with the red dragon. And insulting the nation won't help make President Xi Jinping's November US visit any more productive. That might be a-okay with Trump, who said he'd end lavish state dinners with China and instead get Xi a McDonald's double Big Mac. But the risk is that long-term damage will be done.