FACTBOX: Presidential candidates' stances on China
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have a similar list of issues to address with China -- its currency, its relations with troublesome states, emissions and market access for foreign investors.
Obama emphasized a multilateral approach to North Korea and Asia-Pacific security based on alliances throughout the region, while McCain warned against American protectionism and urged China to live up to open market and currency commitments, in campaign position papers published by the American Chamber of Commerce in China on Monday. (www.amcham-china.org.cn)
Below are excerpts of the candidates' positions:
JOHN MCCAIN
CLIMATE CHANGE:
"If we are going to establish meaningful environmental protocols, they must include the two nations -- China and India -- that have the potential to pollute the air faster, and in greater annual volume, than any nation ever in history."
DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS:
"China has signed numerous international agreements that make its domestic behavior more than just a matter of national sovereignty. To be a responsible stakeholder in the modern international system, a government must also be responsible at home, in protecting the rights of its people."
ECONOMY AND TRADE:
Accuses Obama of "preying on fears stoked by Asia's dynamism" and of proposing "throwing up protectionist walls". Calls for retraining U.S. workers and modernizing the unemployment insurance system as part of a recognition that globalization means jobs will be lost.
"(China's) commitment to open markets must include enforcement of international trade rules, protecting intellectual property, lowering manufacturing tariffs and fulfillment of its commitment to move to a market-determined currency."
"The next administration should be clear about where China needs to make progress, hold it to its commitments through enforcement at the World Trade Organization, and enforce U.S. trade and product safety laws."
MILITARY AND DIPLOMACY:
"Some of China's economic practices, combined with its rapid military modernization, lack of political freedom and close relations with regimes like Sudan and Burma, tend to undermine the very international system on which its rise depends."
"China could bolster its claim that it is "peacefully rising" by being more transparent about its significant military buildup and by working with the world to isolate pariah states."
BARACK OBAMA:
CLIMATE CHANGE:
Pledges to work with Congress and private sector to do more on climate change, saying the United States has done "too little."
"For too long... each (China and the U.S.) has pointed a finger at the other's attitudes as an excuse for not itself doing more. That has to stop."
DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS:
"China cannot stand indefinitely apart from the global trend toward democratic government, rule of law and full exercise of human rights. Protection of the unique cultural and religious traditions of the Tibetan people is an integral part of such an agenda."
ECONOMY AND TRADE:
Calls on China to expand its own domestic consumption, improve its social safety net and upgrade financial services sector. Says that, "because it pegs its currency at an artificially low rate", China is running current account surpluses that are "not good for American firms and workers, not good for the world" and could produce inflation problems in China.
"I know that America and the world can benefit from trade with China, but only if China agrees to play by the rules and act as a positive force for balanced world growth."
"I will use all the diplomatic avenues available to seek a change in China's currency practices. I would also undertake more sustained and serious efforts to combat intellectual property piracy in China, and to address regulations that discriminate against foreign investments in major sectors and other unfair trading practices."
MILITARY
"Along with the forward deployment of our military forces in the Western Pacific, (alliances with other Asian countries) are a necessary but not sufficient basis for a sound strategy to strengthen regional security and stability."
"We support steps to build trust across the Taiwan Strait and improvements in relations between Beijing and Taipei."
Calls for "the complete elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and normalization of relations between North Korea and all the participants in the Six-Party Talks."
"I look to China to work with us to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, to halt the genocide in Darfur and to help reverse the slide into anarchy in Zimbabwe."
(Editing by Roger Crabb)
