Suspicion of US rife as Romney, Obama jab China

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Slideshow: The dance of two giantsAFP - Getty ImagesA click-through history of modern relations between the United States and China.Launch slideshowBy Ed Flanagan, NBC NewsNews analysis

BEIJING – It isn't only the U.S. presidential candidates who have had to withstand a verbal pummeling during the race -- China has been the subject of some of the most sustained attacks from Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, both of whom seem to be competing for who can be toughest on the world’s second-largest economy.

Romney has called China "a currency manipulator" and pledged to "crack down" on the country. Obama, meanwhile, has described China as an adversary, and said his administration was sending "a very clear message that America is a Pacific power and we are going to have a presence there."In the final presidential debate, Mitt Romney says the country needs to get tough on China on currency manipulation and counterfeit products. China was mentioned 32 times during the last presidential debate. This appeared to have prompted China's netizens, who tend to be younger and better educated than average, to take to online feeds in droves to watch Obama and Romney fight it out.

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