Time to stop playing China card

History has an odd way of repeating itself. This observation applies with special force when one examines the role that China plays in America's presidential campaigns.

One way or another, the "China issue" often seems to find its way into election-year politics. This unfortunate trend continues to this day.

In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower, then the Republican candidate for president, assigned Richard M. Nixon, his party's vice-presidential candidate, the unpleasant task of using the success of the Chinese Revolution as a weapon to bludgeon the Democrats.