Hillary Clinton on Monday accused China of paying back the United States for a landmark trade deal with "tainted fish and lead-laced toys and poison pet food." The New York senator warned in a major foreign policy address that China's trade and currency policies were punishing US workers, and hammered President George W. Bush's policies towards the communist giant.
Risking another row with Beijing, which accused her in November of slandering its manufacturers, Clinton said China "has become a global superpower that needs to be convinced to play by the rules in the global marketplace."
"Over the course of the last seven years, Bush policies have allowed the Chinese government to become our banker," Clinton said in a speech at George Washington University here.
"Today, China's steel comes here and our jobs go there. We play by the rules and they manipulate their currency," she said in remarks apparently aimed at the economically distressed state of Ohio which holds a crucial primary vote March 4.
"We get tainted fish and lead-laced toys and poison pet food in return. that will change when I am in the White House," she said, recalling several product safety scares surrounding Chinese-made goods last year.
Clinton's remarks appeared to be a reference to the aftermath of the US decision in 2000 to grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China, a policy backed by the administration of her husband ex-president Bill Clinton.
The move ended the annual review of US trade ties for Beijing and speeded China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
It was not the first time that Clinton had adopted populist anti-China rhetoric in her campaign.
In November, the Chinese government accused her of "slander" after she had warned of a tide of dangerous Chinese-made Christmas gifts.
"China bashing" has been a staple of past US campaigns but the candidate that wins the presidency often tempers the rhetoric as geopolitical concerns take on more importance once the White House is secured.
Populist anti-trade rows have risen to the top of the 2008 Democratic presidential race, as Clinton tries to revive her flagging campaign in Ohio and Texas, which also votes on March 4 in a nominating showdown her campaign admits she must win.
Surging Barack Obama has targeted the former first lady over her past support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enacted by her husband's administration, which unions say has driven millions of US manufacturing jobs overseas.
Clinton says NAFTA has failed to deliver on its promises, but Obama says the trade issue exposes her poor judgement, as does her vote to authorize the war in Iraq.