Washington: Terming China a major foreign policy challenge for the US, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that if elected, he would ensure strong ties with India to counter the Chinese influence.
A fact sheet issued by the Romney Campaign asserted that if elected, the Republican will "deepen cooperation among regional partners like India and build stronger ties to influential countries like Indonesia."
In his address to the Veterans for Foreign War convention in Nevada yesterday, Romney, although acknowledging that partnership with China was necessary for a stable and secure world, accused Beijing of "cheating" the international community over a range of issues.
"It`s in our mutual interest, of course, for China to be a partner for a stable and secure world, and we welcome its participation in trade. But the cheating must finally be brought to a stop," he said, accusing President Barack Obama of not doing anything in this regard.
"The President hasn`t done it and won`t do it, and I will," asserted Romney.
The Republican candidate termed the Chinese behaviour at the international level, especially over a host of trade issues as a challenge and also lashed out at Beijing for "disregarding rights of its people."
"We face another challenge in a rising China. China is attentive to the interests of its government, but it too often disregards the rights of its people. It`s selective in the freedoms it allows," Romney said.
With special reference to the one child policy of China, Romney claimed the policy "can be ruthless in crushing the freedoms it denies."
"In conducting trade with America, it permits flagrant patent and copyright.
The fact sheet issued by the Romney Campaign added that if elected, the Republican would implement a strategy that would makes path of regional hegemony for China far more costly than the alternative path of becoming a responsible partner in the international system.
Romney, the campaign said, will maintain robust military capabilities in the Pacific to guarantee that trade routes remain open and East Asia`s community of nations remains secure and prosperous.
The fact sheet said any serious policy must confront the fact that China`s Communist regime continued to deny its people basic political freedoms and human rights.
"Romney would support and engage civil society groups within China that are promoting democratic reform, anti-corruption efforts, religious freedom, and women`s and minority rights. These efforts would provide greater access to information through a stronger Internet freedom initiative," it said.
On issues of trade, Romney would clearly lay out a series of steps that China must take to become a responsible participant in the global economy, and a clear series of consequences that would accompany failure to make rapid progress down that path, the fact sheet said.
If China continues to block government procurement from foreign firms, the US then would also react in the same manner, it said, adding that Romney would "formally declare" China to be a currency manipulator if Beijing continued to manipulate its currency.
The campaign also batted for punitive tariffs on Chinese products for which Beijing provides anti-competitive assistance, in case China continues to "unfairly subsidise" its domestic producers, "interfere" with foreign competitors and pursue an "indigenous innovation" policy by coercing and stealing from foreign firms.
"Work with other developed nations to impose intellectual property sanctions, blocking the transfer into China of technologies that China has prioritised," the fact sheet said.
"In response to all of these practices, use Reagan Economic Zone to confer benefits on genuine free trading nations from which China is excluded so long as it’s unfair practices continue," the campaign added.
PTI
