US election campaign blast on China

In the heat of US Presidential election campaign  Barack Obama  played the anti-China card to cover his flank against the more direct Beijing bashing of his Republican foe Mitt Romney. Obama has previously complained over China's subsidies for its auto parts sector, slapped tariffs on Chinese tire imports and lodged a case against Beijing's export restrictions on rare earth elements used in hi-tech products. Hammering Obama on China makes sense for Romney, as he fans resentment over the president's management of the US economy with which Beijing is inextricably linked.