US uses China as political card in election

China is becoming a political card in the US election. Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are stepping up attacks on each other in their election campaigns, and many of these have involved China.

Obama says tariffs he imposed on Chinese tires in 2009 protected thousands of American jobs. In his campaign ads, Mitt Romney called Chinese manufacturing enterprises cheaters who were stealing American jobs.

In an exlusive interview with CCTV, US former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, the first Chinese American to be appointed to the US cabinet, said the China card is an effective strategy in the election. But she warned that whoever becomes the president needs to cultivate the China-US relationship.