Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow Robert Manning writes for Global Times on US policy towards China and its role in the upcoming elections:
It hasn’t happened yet. But as we begin to get into the thick of the long US presidential campaign, also known as the “Silly Season,” it’s expected that China will emerge as a central issue and reliable political punching bag for a crowded field of candidates where there are already sixteen Republicans and five Democrats.
At a moment when the US economic recovery and low unemployment (5.3 percent) make it difficult to attack the recent Democratic record on economic issues which matter most to US voters, Republicans see the Democrats as vulnerable on foreign policy. They are unhappy with Obama’s withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, inconsistent policies toward the Syrian conflict, failure to destroy ISIS, and eagerness to compromise with Iran on its nuclear program.