G.O.P. Candidates Take Aim at China as U.S. Markets Tumble

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/us/politics/gop-candidates-take-aim-at-china-as-us-markets-tumble.html

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Republican presidential candidates began shifting their focus on Monday from the dangers posed by illegal immigrants to a new target: China, whose currency devaluations and stock market plunges are starting to hurt the savings of American investors.

One Republican candidate, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, called on President Obama on Monday to cancel his plans to meet in Washington next month with President Xi Jinping of China on what will be his first state visit to the United States. Mr. Walker accused Beijing of a range of offenses that have harmed American interests, including manipulating its economy and currency, carrying out cyberattacks and persecuting Christians.

His remarks came after another Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump, seized on the 1,000-point decline early Monday of the Dow Jones industrial average and took to Twitter and Instagram to warn that China will “bring us down” and that “this could get very messy.”

The criticism comes at a particularly delicate time for relations between the United States and China. Mr. Obama is expected to use the state visit to press Mr. Xi on such nettlesome issues as Beijing’s aggressive military maneuvers in the South China Sea, cybersecurity, the treatment of American companies in China, and now the decline of China’s currency, the renminbi, which is likely to hurt exports.

Republicans are not the only ones criticizing the Chinese government; Hillary Rodham Clinton last month accused China of “trying to hack into everything that doesn’t move in America.”

But for candidates like Mr. Walker and Mr. Trump, the criticism may be less politically costly than focusing on immigration. Mr. Trump, in particular, has faced harsh rebukes from others in the party for potentially alienating Latino voters who could be crucial in swing states in the 2016 general election.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican candidate who is a moderate on immigration, joined the criticism of China on Monday by saying that the federal debt “has been given to us in large measure by the Chinese” and that “as the Chinese markets have a correction” it will have an outsized impact on the United States.

While the Chinese government is in fact the largest holder of United States government debt, its large purchases help hold down the interest payments that American taxpayers must ultimately bear to service that debt.

In calling on Mr. Obama to cancel Mr. Xi’s state visit, Mr. Walker said, “There’s serious work to be done rather than pomp and circumstance.”

“Americans are struggling to cope with the fall in today’s markets driven in part by China’s slowing economy and the fact that they actively manipulate their economy,” he said in a statement issued Monday afternoon. “Rather than honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping with an official state visit next month, President Obama should focus on holding China accountable over its increasing attempts to undermine U.S. interests.”

But the issue is a complex and nuanced one. American companies including Apple and major carmakers have seen their fortunes rise recently by catering to the growing Chinese consumer market, with Midwestern manufacturers being a particular beneficiary.

In fact, Mr. Walker’s own economic development agency has a trade mission planned to China in January.

Mike Browne, deputy executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a liberal group that has been critical of the governor, noted that Mr. Walker has not canceled the mission. “He’s paying so little attention to Wisconsin he probably doesn’t know about it, so it would be fun to hear his response.”

Mr. Trump, who made most of his money in real estate rather than investing, has noted in the past that he has personally benefited from Chinese wealth.

“Hey, I’m not saying they’re stupid. I like China,” he said in announcing his candidacy in June. “I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?”

In visiting the United States, a trip agreed upon in February, Mr. Xi is reciprocating for a state visit Mr. Obama made to Beijing last November. There, the two leaders reached an ambitious agreement on controlling carbon emissions, a deal that was meant to provide new impetus for other nations to reduce greenhouse gases.