US presidential candidates dodge real responsibility

China and Russia have been a repeated target of US presidential candidates in their policy arguments during several televised debates. Donald Trump promised to label China as a currency manipulator if he is elected. Marco Rubio vowed to put wider sanctions on Russian oil and defense conglomerates and impose harsher visa bans. Chris Christie even said he would fly Air Force One over some expanded islands in the South China Sea. Increasingly regarded as the two major adversaries of the US, China and Russia have become punching bags for these presidential hopefuls. Bonnie Glaser, a well-known expert on China-US relations, said they "believe this appeals to Americans - they want their president to be in charge, to take on any other country that undermines American interests." China and Russia have raised concerns about the tendency that might ratchet up tensions with Washington. Both diplomatic officials from China and Russia have expressed their regret that anti-Chinese and anti-Russian rhetoric has disparagingly become a significant part of some candidates' stump speeches. Candidates' careless remarks have become routine in the US political spectrum. Politicians vying for the US presidency are misleading voters to shift their anxiety and disaffection with the administration elsewhere. These candidates lack the statesmanship to face up to the fact that the problems that continue to haunt the US were caused by the US itself. China and Russia might be competitors with the US in some spheres, but it was not they that set fire to the Middle East, a path which ultimately led to the terror atrocities in Paris at the weekend. In one of the debates, republican candidate Ben Carson even suggested that China is militarily involved in the Syrian crisis. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest was "speechless" as to how to respond to Carson's senseless remarks. As the only country which is able to project power across the globe, the US boasts it is a major contributor to the public good and international order. However, its candidates for the next president are not showing any sign of responsibility in this term, not to speak of any introspection of its strategic wrongdoings in intervening in the Middle East. Their blame-shifting results in unnecessary antagonism among the public against China and Russia. Once elected, US presidents will usually shut their big mouths and adopt pragmatism in foreign affairs. But the efforts they exert to reverse the negative impression they have caused on China and Russia are usually out of proportion to those they have made to disparage China and Russia. US presidential candidates should note that statesmen employ a consistent approach to making a real difference for their country, politicians jockeying for fame are just a flash in the pan.