BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- As the U.S. presidential candidates enter into the final stretch of their months-long campaigns, Election Day, which falls on Tuesday local time, will not only end with the announcement of who will be the next U.S. president, but also, hopefully, with a pause in the China-bashing game.
This year's campaigns marked the first time that the China topic has been so frequently debated, as pointing fingers at China became an easy and convenient way for the two candidates to score political gains while avoiding taking responsibility for mishandling the domestic economy.
As Republican candidate Mitt Romney has often reiterated his threat to designate China a currency manipulator and President Barack Obama has rarely missed an opportunity to tout his "trophy" achievements of getting tough with China while in office, the presidential debate has fallen into a vanity fair for China-bashers competing to denigrate their second-largest trade partner.
If scapegoating and vilifying China are merely campaign tricks, with the heated campaign drawing to an end, it is time for whoever the president-in-waiting is to tone down his tough rhetoric and adopt a more rational stance.
Despite arguments, there is common sense between the United States and China. As the world's largest and second-largest economies, they can not afford to grapple with the backlash of any severe confrontations in any arena.
