White House hopefuls look to greater Chinese links
John McCain and Barack Obama both stress importance of trade links with China to future US administrations
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Monday, 15, Sep 2008 01:49
United States presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have both impressed the importance of trade links with China to their White House campaigns.
Mr McCain and Mr Obama were invited by an American business magazine to outline the policies their administrations would adopt towards Beijing.
Republican nominee Mr McCain and his Democratic rival both urged increased business cooperation with China but warned Beijing against alienating itself from the international community.
Although Illinois senator Mr Obama said he wanted reconciliatory talks between China and Taiwan, both men failed to mention Tibet and were largely silent on human rights abuses.
Arizona senator Mr McCain said Beijing's links with Burma and Sudan; economic practices; military modernisation and lack of political freedoms "undermine the very international system on which its rise depends".
"The next administration should be clear about where China needs to make progress, hold it to its commitments through enforcement at the World Trade Organisation and enforce US trade and product safety laws," he continued in the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
"Doing so will help steer the process of China's economic integration with the world to ensure that it is a fair, two-way street."
Mr Obama urged China to adopt "fresh thinking" over its economic, environmental and scientific policies but cited the six party talks on North Korea as an example of successful cooperation between the two countries.
"China's current growth is unbalanced, and in recent years domestic consumption has actually gone down as a percentage of GDP," Mr Obama said.
"To increase internal demand Beijing will have to improve substantially its social safety net and upgrade its financial services sector to bring its consumption in line with international norms."