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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania: Democratic White House foes Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fired off fresh economic salvos against China on Monday, again putting Beijing in the crossfire of the White House race.
Clinton accused the Bush administration of failing to protect American workers, and called for better trade enforcement as she campaigned in gritty Pennsylvania, which holds a Democratic primary on April 22.
"We need solutions to fix our trade laws, build a strong manufacturing base, and stand up to China and say that unsafe toys and unfair currency practices are unacceptable," Clinton told the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) in Pittsburgh.
"Our manufacturers and manufacturing workers have shaped our past and you will drive our future – and if you give me the chance, I will stand strong for you every single day as president," she said.
The New York senator said she would help US industries hurt by Chinese imports and would use the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge other countries for violating trade rules.
She said President George W. Bush had failed to enforce trade laws and not challenged China's currency "manipulation".
But Obama, also addressing the AAM, said Clinton had herself supported normalizing US trade relations with China when she was first lady in the 1990s, along with other trade pacts bitterly resented by US manufacturers.
"That's not respect (for voters). That's just more of the same old Washington politics. And we can't afford more of the same," he said.
China, according to Obama, had unfairly tilted the playing field by "dumping goods into our market," violating intellectual property rights, exporting unsafe toys and "grossly undervaluing" its currency.
"That's why we need to finally confront the issue of trade with China," he said, demanding that "China itself plays by the rules and acts as a positive force for balanced world growth".
The AAM is a non-partisan body which brings together some leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers Union, and has been pushing for tough action against Beijing in its "China Cheats" campaign.
China has frequently been in a target of choice for candidates in this, and previous US presidential elections.
Just last week, Clinton urged Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in protest over Tibet and Darfur.
As Beijing increasingly became a target in the campaign, Obama also said that if Beijing did not "take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security, and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the president should boycott the opening ceremonies".
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain also weighed in, as Bush chafed at calls for him to boycott the opening ceremonies, but at the same time failed to confirm he was going.
"I believe President Bush should evaluate his participation in the ceremonies surrounding the Olympics and, based on Chinese actions, decide whether it is appropriate to attend," McCain said in a statement.
"If Chinese policies and practices do not change, I would not attend the opening ceremonies."
"China bashing" has been a staple of past US campaigns but the candidate that wins the presidency often tempers the rhetoric as geopolitical concerns take on more importance once the White House is secured.
- AFP/so
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