President Obama released his third State of the Union in his first term. He mentioned China five times in this State of the Union. Compared with the previous two state of the Union, the number of reference to China increases year by year; the tone also has changed significantly. He posed a very hard attitude towards trade with China. In three consecutive State of the Union, “China” without exception, becomes one of the highest frequently occurred countries in his speeches. The number of occurrences is 2, 4 and 5 from 2011 to 2012 respectively.
The references to China last night were all related to economy. Beginning within a few minutes, he encouraged U.S. companies to bring back American jobs from overseas, said “We can't bring back every job that's left our shores. But right now, it's getting more expensive to do business in places like China.” The second time when Obama mentioned China his attitude tended to be hard. He said, “We've brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration – and it's made a difference.” In order to prove the case of the so-called remedy the effect of trade with China, Obama used China as an example, “Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires.” The fourth time Obama announced the establishment of a trade enforcement department dedicated to investigating China's "unfair trade practices." Finally, Obama stressed that he " will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany"
Throughout the three State of the Union, Barack Obama changed China-related words significantly. In State of the Union 2010 for the first time he stressed that China has the fastest train and the production of clean energy products and new plants, and "do not accept the United States become the second," indicating a strong sense of competition with China; In 2011, Obama recognized China's leading position in certain areas, quite with a tone of “learning from China”; this time, emphasizing the number of trade cases against China, and announcing the establishment of a new institution show his hardened attitude toward China.
Compared with the previous president, we can also see the significant differences. In the past, China appears frequently in the U.S. presidential State of the Union as an object of "learning lessons ", "being educated" or even "being helped". In State of the Union 1999, Clinton had a command, said: "to help China integrate into the world." Bush also claimed in 2008 to "help" China to make better use of clean energy; but Obama is no longer such a high profile. He was even worried that the U.S. lags behind China, "become the second”
The speech was against the backdrop of the forthcoming U.S. presidential election and I think this is main reason why he hardened his words for China. Playing China card is a typical gesture for almost every presidential candidate since Bill Clinton. From last year, Republican candidates have begun to speculate China issues; Obama taking a tough attitude on trade issues with China aims to win over some voters and avoid giving the Republicans more ammunition.
China now is the second largest economy in the world, largest creditor to the US debt and second largest US’s trade partner.
