Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Is China an economic or military threat to the US?
Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, stated the following in an Aug. 1, 2011 article by Tim Murphy titled "Gary Johnson: 'I'm Not. Dead. Yet.'," published in Mother Jones:
"When people understand that the United States spends 52 cents out of the worldwide dollar on military spending and that China spends 9 cents, what arms race are we gonna engage them in? I mean really, is China a threat? No, they're not." Aug. 1, 2011 Gary Johnson
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, stated the following in a Nov. 14, 2009 article by Voice of America titled "Obama Calls for New Era in Trans-Pacific Relations," available at wwww.voanews.co
"I know there are many who question how the United States perceives China's emergence. But as I have said - in an inter-connected world, power does not need to be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success of another. Cultivating spheres of cooperation - not competing spheres of influence - will lead to progress in the Asia Pacific." Nov. 14, 2009 Barack Obama
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, was quoted as having said the following in a Sep. 28, 2011 article titled "Romney Calls China An 'Economic Threat,'" available at www.afp.com:
"[Donald Trump and I] see eye to eye on China. Not only as an economic threat, cultural threat, [but] down the road they're building a very strong military with potentially the intent to dissuade us from sending ships to the South China Sea, military ships." Sep. 28, 2011 Mitt Romney
Michele Bachmann, US Representative (R-MN), stated the following during a Feb. 10, 2011 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC:
"You may know that the President of China is named Hu. His name is President Hu. And with all the money that we owe China, I think we might rightly say, Hu's your daddy." Feb. 10, 2010 Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Chairman of Godfather's Pizza, stated the following during an Apr. 16, 2011 speech at an Iowa Tea Party event, available at www.politifact.com:
"If we don't begin to grow with the potential that we have in this country, we will have another national security crisis, and that national security crisis is that China will be as big as we are... They'll start to develop a military as big and as good as ours and they've got a billion more people and they're holding 26 percent of our debt. And you think we're going to be able to sing Kumbaya with them?" Apr. 16, 2011 Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives (R-GA), stated the following during the Oct. 11, 2011 Bloomberg/Washington Post Republican presidential debate held at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH:
"They ought to repeal Sarbanes-Oxley now. If we get back on track, the -- and you know this, as a former ambassador -- the Chinese couldn't compete with us in a hundred years if we got our act together in this country and we got back to doing the right things in this country; at which point we could afford to buy houses, which would solve virtually everything else. You got to be able to afford it to be able to buy it, and that's where things went wrong in the -- in the last decade.” Oct. 11, 2011 Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, stated the following during a June 8, 2011 interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show, available at www.hughhewitt.com:
"There is a concerted effort on the part of the Chinese military, on the part of government, to infiltrate and penetrate whatever they can find here in the United States that might bring them value, value in terms of understanding where our thinking it, value in terms of understanding our latest technology, and it is done very, very aggressively, and without rules and without boundaries. And this is something that we’ve got to begin to understand, because I do believe that now and going forward, cyber security for this country will be extremely important.” June 8, 2011 Jon Huntsman
[Editor's Note: In addition to the Not Clearly Pro or Con statement above, which leans pro, we have also provided a Not Clearly Pro or Con Statement below, which leans con, from a Commencement address at Southern New Hampshire University, May 21, 2011.]
"You hear how the Chinese economy is going to swamp us. Don't believe it. China has its own problems. And we have our own strengths. I mean there's a reason that Google was started in America and not Russia or Germany or China. Anyone who has bet against this country long term has lost his money…We still have the power of our values, the power of our technology, the power of our innovation and the power of our entrepreneurial culture.”
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX) stated the following in a June 22, 2011 interview with Amy Walter and Rick Klein on ABC's Topline, available on www.youtube.com:
"I would defer to saying it’s probably been pretty neutral [US relations with China]. I don’t think it’s deteriorated, because things are so much better than what I remember in high school. We were fighting the Chinese and the Koreans. One of my teachers was sent to Korea and never came back. So that had an impact on me. So it’s so much better. I think Nixon did a lot of terrible things... But he opened up the door to China. I think we’re much better off talking to the Chinese and trading with the Chinese, and they have an interest in staying peaceful with us, as we have an interest on them, even though we have our differences on some of the trade and 'Why do our companies go to China?' And in some ways, they embarrass us, because they’re more Capitalistic than we are. It’s easier for our businesses to go to China than it is to stay here. That aggravates me. But I blame ourselves for that." June 22, 2011 Ron Paul
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, stated the following in his June 5, 2005 press release, "Gov. Perry Meets with US Ambassador, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs," available at governor.state.tx.us:
"People in China and Texas share mutual aspirations of prosperity, education for our children, and jobs that pay the bills. We are working to expand and deepen the economic relationship between Texas and China, our third-largest trading partner. We want to increase the billions of dollars in trade that flow between us each year.". June 5, 2005 Rick Perry
Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana, stated the following during a Sep. 1, 2011 speech at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, available at www.buddyroemer.com:
"How could a U.S. factory survive unfair competition from China? Let me describe it. I've been to China many times. Our factories are subject to minimum wage laws and collective bargaining that assures a high standard of living for blue-collar American workers. Chinese factories exploit the poverty of their own people, employing up to 50 workers for the same cost as one U.S. worker. Chinese children work 60 hours a week and more, paid nothing but room and board. Chinese prisoners are forced to work for nothing. Chinese factories operate with no rules and no expense to protect the health and safety of the workers nor any penalty for polluting the environment. You can see China before you get there. If necessary to destroy our factories, the Chinese government subsidizes its factories to dump goods on the American market at a price even lower than the Chinese cost. Currency manipulation, hidden trade barriers, unfair trade tactics in which the Chinese government specializes.
What happened to our American factories that did not move their operations to China? They couldn't compete with that unfair competition. They disappeared. They went broke. They folded up." Sep. 1, 2011 Buddy Roemer
Rick Santorum, former US Senator (R-PA), stated the following during the Oct. 11, 2011 Republican presidential debate in Hanover, NH:
"You know, Mitt [Romney], I don't want to go to a trade war, I want to beat China. I want to go to war with China and make America the most attractive place in the world to do business." Oct. 11, 2011 Rick Santorum
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