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GOP’s tough talk doesn’t square with US-China relationship

Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, gives a foreign policy speech on the campus of The Citadel, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, gives a foreign policy speech on the campus of The Citadel, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith) Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, gives a foreign policy speech on the campus of The Citadel, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

By Associated Press 1 min read

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – If there was ever a week for the Republican presidential candidates to promise to get tough on China, this was it: Spurred by the stock market’s wild ride, they lashed out at the world’s most populous nation.

Scott Walker demanded President Barack Obama cancel an upcoming state visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng). Donald Trump said the U.S. needs to “do a big uncoupling pretty soon, before it’s too late.”

But some experts say that rhetoric doesn’t square with the realities of the relationship between the world’s two largest economies – even if it makes for nifty campaign sound bites.

Jon Huntsman is a former Republican governor of Utah and U.S. ambassador to China. He says China-bashing is a surefire applause in Republican primaries but unrealistic.