Strong China policy for votes

Presidential candidates' harsh rhetoric about Sino-US ties just meant to win votes and would prove disastrous if pursued

It remains to be seen if US President Barack Obama will stay for another term in office or the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, will triumph. Yet, for the Chinese, perhaps the greatest concern regarding the US presidential election is about the effect it will have on relations between China and the United States.

As can be safely presumed amid the US' faltering economic recovery and high rate of unemployment, China will be a hot topic in the election campaign. Already, frictions have arisen between China and the US in one trade dispute after another. And Romney, to differentiate his China policies from Obama's and curry favor with hard right-wing elements in the Republican Party, has said he will label China a "currency manipulator" on his first day in office.