Why Does the US Election Love Playing the China Card?

The 2016 U.S. presidential election approaches, and there is already quite a strong air of competition ahead of the primaries. The topic of China is once again the candidates’ main ammunition. According to incomplete statistics, at least seven candidates mentioned China in their first speech and usually took a negative stance. The Huffington Post states that in the election, China has always been a vulnerable target for presidential candidates.

It’s true; in the U.S. presidential election, China being prone to attack is no longer anything new. Ever since China entered America’s global field of vision, China and U.S.-China relations seem to have become targets at which candidates fire.

Relations with China are an important political topic in the United States. China’s involvement in the U.S. election is actually nothing strange. For example, Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin and former candidate, urged the cancellation of President Xi Jinping’s U.S. trip. Another example is Republican front-runner and real estate mogul Donald Trump, who vowed that he would bring back American jobs taken by China.

Also, as the two most influential candidates from either party, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush take the lead in broaching China affairs. Although Clinton, in her first speech on June 13, only referred to China as a rising power that must be confronted, and although Bush even digressed from China in his speech, both candidates have their own stances toward China: Clinton attacked China’s theft of business secrets, defense plans, and a large amount of government information; Bush, while acknowledging the importance of U.S.-China economic and trade interests, emphasized that China is a threat to America.

Without a doubt, stirring up China affairs has become a strength-showing tactic in the 2016 election, and this is no accident. The topic of China in U.S. election politics is now becoming an inevitable trend. One reason for such inevitability is because from a long-term perspective, U.S.-China relations are important for the two countries, surrounding regions, and even the entire world, and smoothing out these relations is a core diplomatic issue for long-term policy makers. In addition, the background of Republican and Democratic opinions, as well as candidates playing the China card, will push China to the front of the stage exposing it completely.

The side effects of the topic of U.S.-China relations cannot be underestimated. First of all, it severely corrodes the solid foundation and stable, healthy development of new major-power relations. Also, it affects the Chinese and American people’s impressions of each other due to limited knowledge of international affairs. According to an opinion poll by Gallup, since 2008 the number of people who are certain that China is, up to now, America’s greatest threat continues to rise; it rose from 18 percent in 2008 to 23 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, the China hype in the U.S. election will also bring negative energy and animosity to the Chinese people, deepening their skepticism of America.

Therefore, to confront negative criticism in election politics, China looks forward to displaying to the American people the true measures of its reform and development as well as its sincere intentions in the international community. China will effectively convey a positive will to construct new U.S.-China major-power relations, as well as strengthen cultural exchange, urban communication and parliamentary exchange in order to improve its diplomatic relations with America. China should especially diversify its communication between American and Chinese youth to prevent American politicians from encouraging young candidates to take a negative stance against China. The chances that we will evade the heavy damage caused by public opinion after abandoning our development of U.S.-China relations cannot be lower. The quality of the U.S.-China relationship lies in the closeness of their people. We believe that this warm image of building trust and shattering doubt can transcend the side effects caused by the election campaign.