Democratic presidential candidates fired a stinging round of attacks at China on Tuesday, bemoaning "bad food" imports and defective toys while accusing Beijing of manipulating the yuan.
It was the first sign of "China bashing" -- a staple of past US campaigns -- and came as candidates debated before 15,000 labor-union members concerned about lost US blue-collar jobs and the impact of global free trade.
Front-runner Senator Hillary Clinton said that the US had to deal with China's "currency manipulation" at the forum hosted by the AFL-CIO trade unions federation.
"We have to have tougher standards on what they import into this country," she said.
"I don't want to eat bad food from China or have my children having toys that are going to get them sick," said Clinton, who according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll leads the Democratic field by 22 points.
Her comments referred to a string of recent consumer health safety scares in the US involving goods made in China.
The outdoor debate on a humid night at a football stadium was seen as an audition before the mighty labor block, which partially bankrolls and gets out the vote in Democratic campaigns.
Senator Barack Obama, second to Clinton in national polls five-and-a-half months before first party nominating contests, branded China a "competitor" but not necessarily an enemy.
"If they're manipulating their currency ... we take them to the mat," he said.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a long-shot candidate with experience in foreign relations, warned that China was a "strategic competitor."
"We've got to say to China, `you've got to stop fooling around with currency; you've got to find ways to be more sensitive to your workers,'" he said. "And we've got to be tougher on China when it comes to human rights and trade ... You've got to do more, China, in the area of human rights around the world, like put pressure on the Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur."
Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards also brought up concerns over defective Chinese imports, after US toys giant Fisher-Price recalled nearly 1 million Chinese-produced toys over fears they might be toxic.
"We should have a Consumer Product Safety Commission that's not looking out for big multinational corporations, but is actually looking out for the safety of our children here in America," he said.
Veteran Democratic Senator Joseph Biden lashed out at Chinese loans to the administration of US President George W. Bush which he said were used to fund the Iraq war.
"They hold the mortgage on our house ... We're now in debt almost US$1 trillion to China," he said.
Top contenders also sparred over whether to unilaterally strike al-Qaeda in Pakistan and battled on the influence of corporate lobbyists in US politics.
Obama rebuked rivals who mocked him as naive on foreign policy, defending his statement last week that he would be prepared to order unilateral strikes against al-Qaeda in tribal areas in Pakistan.
"I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me," he said.
"If we have actionable intelligence on al-Qaeda operatives -- including [Osama] bin Laden -- and [Pakistani President Pervez] Musharraf cannot act, then we should. Now, I think that's just common sense," Obama said.
Obama and Edwards also suggested that Clinton was in the pocket of corporate interests.
But she hit back: "For 15 years, I have stood up against the right-wing machine, and I've come out stronger."
foreign RESERVES
Meanwhile, the possibility of China using its foreign reserves as a weapon against the US on a wider economic and diplomatic front has been aired in the Chinese media and in a report on the London-based Telegraph Web site.
The Telegraph report quoted Xia Bin (夏斌), the influential director of the Research Institute of Finance at the Development Research Center of the State Council, as saying that China's foreign exchange holdings should be used as a "bargaining chip" in bilateral talks.
The report also referred to an article in the English-language China Daily on Tuesday by He Fan (何帆), an assistant to the director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
It said US objections to the yuan exchange rate amounted to "over-concern," that cooperation with China will be endangered "if the US insists on politicizing China's exchange regime [reforms]," and that the Chinese central bank would precipitate a collapse of the US dollar if the present exchange rate is not maintained.
The author of the Telegraph report concluded that the comments represented an aggressive shift in the Beijing government's policy, though the Xinhua-affiliated Market News International Web site downplayed the comments, saying: "The reality behind the headlines doesn't point to China severing its extensive ties with the US dollar anytime soon."
SCHEDULE: The delegation is due to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen this morning and witness the signing of an MOU on bilateral health cooperation in the afternoon US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar yesterday arrived in Taipei aboard a US government plane at the head of a delegation that is the highest-level visit by a US official since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979. Azar’s flight landed at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 4:48pm, nearly one hour earlier than scheduled, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The apron where it landed is reserved for military aircraft, the Songshan Air Force Base Command said. The members of Azar’s delegation included HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec, HHS Chief of Staff Brian
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
CHINESE FIGHTERS: Beijing marked the US Cabinet member’s visit by briefly sending two warplanes across the median line of the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday met with US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar in the highest-level official meeting between the two nations since 1979. “It is a true honor to be here to convey a message of strong support and friendship from [US] President [Donald] Trump to Taiwan,” Azar said during the open portion of his courtesy call to the Presidential Office, which was streamed live online before Tsai and Azar held a closed-door meeting. “Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been among the most successful in the world, and that is a tribute to the open, transparent,
‘CROSS-STRAIT CONSIDERATIONS’: Groups said that the Ministry of Education’s policies excluded Chinese and students should not be blocked over political issues The Taiwan International Student Movement yesterday said it would protest today outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei against a policy that excludes some Chinese students from returning to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June 17, the ministry has allowed foreign students from 19 “low risk” and “medium-low risk” countries and regions to enter Taiwan. On July 22, it announced that it was relaxing restrictions to include students from all countries and regions who are graduating this semester and on Wednesday it further expanded entry to students enrolled in degree programs. A letter sent by the ministry on Wednesday to universities did
RSS