'Romney demonising China is very dangerous'

Obama campaign lashes out at Romney for anti-China rhetoric like launching a trade war against it

The Obama Campaign has lashed out at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for anti-China rhetoric like launching a trade war against it, and noted that such moves could be very dangerous for the United States.

"When I listen to the two campaigns, I hear a very different tone and very different rhetoric from the two on China," Michele Flournoy, Obama For America Advisor, told reporters at a news conference.

US President Barack Obama, Flournoy said, has talked consistently about building a comprehensive and cooperative relationship with China, about working together on the broad range of issues where we have common interests, on welcoming China's rise as an economic partner and so forth and so on.

"Obviously, where we have differences, we're having all kinds of candid dialogue about that, and we work those out behind closed doors," she said.

"What concerns me is the harsh rhetoric coming out of the Romney campaign, again, talking about China in a way that would sound like they're going to start a trade war early on, sort of demonising China.

"I think that is very dangerous," Flournoy said in response to a question.

"China is a very important country that we have to work with closely in Asia, and what we say in campaigns we have to be responsible, because whoever ultimately governs have a very positive and cooperative and productive relationship with China even as we work through our differences," Flournoy said.