Editorial: What Is Bernie Sanders’ China Policy?

Bernie Sanders (Image: Wiki Commons)

By Benjamin David Baker

It’s not actually all that different to Hillary Clinton’s.

China remains an important topic in the ongoing U.S. 2016 presidential primaries. Most Republican candidates have been quite belligerent on the United States’ relationship with Beijing. Donald Trump, the apparent Republican front-runner, has previously accused China of “raping America” financially, and insists that the U.S. consistently gets “beaten” by China in trade negotiations (hear more of Trump on China here.) Ben Carson, currently in second in Republican primary polling, has also been quite vehement in his criticism of China, although he has focused more on cyber espionage and Beijing’s territorial disputes with its neighboring states.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, has a mixed record on China. Previous to her appointment as secretary of state, Clinton had been vocal in her criticism of China’s human rights record, going so far as to encouraging former U.S. President George W. Bush to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics. During her tenure as secretary of state, Clinton oversaw the “Pivot to Asia,” a move that has caused much consternation with the Chinese government. However, her tough talk was coupled with close engagement with her Chinese counterparts. According to Kim Ghattas, author of a biography of Clinton’s time as Secretary of State: “The strategy was work with them on what you can, and work around them with civil society to promote your values agenda.”

However, it’s no longer a safe bet that Clinton will win the Democratic nomination. According to RealClearPolitics, Bernie Sanders, the self-styled social democratic governor of Vermont, has been gaining on Clinton in most polls. Although most mainstream media agree that Clinton won yesterday’s first Democratic Party debate, Sanders appears to have won the social media battle, with one poll showing that 69 percent of all tweets mentioning him by name were positive. For Clinton, the number was 53 percent.

So what is Bernie Sanders’ take on China? According to FeeltheBern, a website managed by grassroots Sanders supporters, Sanders has three main focus areas when it comes of U.S.-China relations.

Read the full story at The Diplomat