A change of control of the US Congress after next month’s elections might take a harsh spotlight off China’s currency, but direct it to other Chinese trade practices, as well as security issues.
Under a consensus on the importance and outlines of the US-China relationship, business-friendly Republicans have focused on security concerns and supported free trade. Democrats, backed by organized labor, have emphasized more diplomacy and called for fair trade.
In the Nov. 2 election for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 seats in the Senate, polls show Republicans appear poised to capture the majority in the House and to make strong gains in the Senate.
China has not emerged as a specific campaign issue, but in an election fought over Democratic US President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy and high unemployment, lawmakers of both parties will be taking swipes against Chinese policies.
In the last official business before they broke for the campaign, the House raised China’s ire by passing, by a vote of 348-79, a law that would treat an undervalued Chinese currency as an unlawful subsidy that could be remedied by duties on selected Chinese goods.
Ninety-nine Republicans joined 249 Democrats to pass the bill, while five Democrats and 74 Republicans voted no.
A Republican party statement accompanying the vote voiced skepticism about pressuring China on the currency, but gave Beijing no quarter on other trade issues.
“We all believe that there are more important priorities in our trading relationship, and bigger barriers to US exports than China’s undervalued currency,” the Republicans said.
“We are frustrated by China’s continued bad faith and aggressive pursuit of protectionist policies that jeopardize our economic relationship,” they said.
As the US-China currency dispute was building this past summer, a new source of tension surfaced in the resource-rich South China Sea, where China’s sweeping territorial claims are contested by several smaller Southeast Asian nations. The Obama administration, without taking sides, urged a multilateral resolution to the dispute and freedom of navigation.
Washington also restated its support for its ally Japan in a tense spat with China last month over a Chinese fishing boat incursion in disputed waters in the East China Sea.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said moves by the US administration to “step up our game in the Asia-Pacific region” rested on a strong bipartisan foundation.
“One of the great things about Asian policy is, generally, it is a policy that has had very strong support on both sides of the political aisle,” he said last week.
US scrutiny of Chinese human rights practices has waned considerably in the decade since Washington granted Beijing permanent most-favored nation trade treatment, ending yearly reviews of China’s rights record that were part of granting trade privileges on an annual basis, activists say.
However, some legislators in both parties still champion civil and religious rights in China and there is sympathy for the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader shunned by China as a separatist.
Taiwan, the self-ruled and democratic island China claims as sovereign territory has historically had more Republican than Democratic friends. Taipei’s requests for advanced weapons to counter China’s military buildup may get a greater hearing under a -Republican-led Congress, analysts say.
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