CHINA
"Candidate Obama talked tough about China's trade policies; President Obama has whispered about them. China smiles, diverts attention by criticizing the United States, and merrily continues to eat our economic lunch. Who can blame the Chinese for ignoring our timid complaints when the status quo has served them so well?" — Oct. 13, 2011
When it comes to China, American presidential wannabes tend to be lions on the hustings and lambs in office. As Global Times editor Hu Xijin put it, "Over the last 20 years, the China policies of U.S. presidents have always been milder than the threats the same men made on the campaign trail." It seems pretty likely that a president Romney would follow the pattern as well. He'll probably continue current practices like challenging Chinese trade policies at the WTO, but further action that would jeopardize over $500 billion in annual bilateral trade is pretty unlikely from any leader of the free world, let alone a business-oriented politician like Romney.
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