Chinese President to Hear Earful From Lawmakers.doc

january 20, 2011, 8:44 am chinese president to hear earful from lawmakersby michael d. sheardrew angerer/the new york times president obama and michelle obama greeted president hu jintao of china as he arrived for a state dinner on wednesday.chinese president hu jintao may be on a bit of a high after wednesday nights elaborate state dinner in his honor at the white house, complete with包括、具有配套的 maine lobster and aged rib-eye牛里脊肉.but thats about to fade quickly.he heads thursday to capitol hill, where he is likely to get a chillier reception from lawmakers concerned that his countrys economic policies are in some measure多少，稍稍 responsible for the jobs crisis in america.he will also face lawmakers who accuse his country of a poor human rights record that includes the countrys crackdown on dissidents不同政见者 in tibet. many of them characterize china as an autocratic country bent on imprisoning its political adversaries.even before his arrival at the other end of pennsylvania avenue for meetings with some of the congressional leadership, mr. hu was the target of raw rhetoric from both parties on capitol hill.senator charles schumer, democrat of new york, told reporters that “we cant afford to keep losing jobs and wealth” to china because of its currency exchange rate, which beijing has been accused of keeping artificially low to favor its manufacturers and exporters. senator harry reid of nevada, the democratic majority leader, called mr. hu a “dictator” during a radio interview, though he later said he could have picked a better word.on cnn, representative dana rohrabacher, a republican congressman from california, called china a “gangster regime that murders their own people and should be treated in that way.”the human rights concerns among lawmakers are longstanding and they were echoed if more delicately by the obama administration during the talks between mr. obama and mr. hu on wednesday.but for american lawmakers, it is chinas emergence as a global economic power that has turned the country into a key target of the ire that many of their constituents feel about the shifting of jobs overseas.throughout the 2010 midterm election campaign, chinas efforts to manipulate its currency came under harsh criticism from congressional candidates as they sought to curry favor with voters.in west virginia, spike maynard, a republican house challenger, aired a television ad that featured a chinese flag and accused the incumbent democrat nick rahall of supporting tax breaks that helped create chinese jobs.“its on our jeans, even childrens toys: made in china. as part of the obama-pelosi team, rahall voted for a bill that led to billions in tax breaks for foreign companies creating chinese jobs,” the ad said. (rahall went on to win re-election.)throughout the campaign, candidates talked about the need for legislation to punish the chinese for keeping the value of their currency low, which makes american goods more expensive in china. a bill passed in the house last year but died in the senate.now several senators have introduced a new measure designed to impose new penalties on china and other countries that manipulate currency in unfair ways.and the issue is likely to heat up further as the 2012 presidential campaign gets underway and chinas economic growth seems likely to continue outpacing the rest of the globe. on thursday, china officially overtook japan as the worlds second-largest economy, behind america.the potential republican candidates for president were quiet this week as mr. hu arrived in washington. but several have talked about china in the past. mitt romney, the former governor of massachusetts, warned in a speech in 2009, “as china becomes stronger, china will be more tempted to achieve natural ambitions through aggressive tactics.”mr. hu is scheduled to meet on capitol hill with mr. reid and with house speaker john boehner, both of whom declined invitations to attend the white house state dinner wednesday night decisions that some read as a snub aimed at the chinese government.senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, also did not attend the dinner, choosing instead to stay home in kentucky for a full day of meetings in his district thursday.a news release sent out thursday morning by mr. reids office said the topics of the discussion between the senator and mr. hu are likely to include “international trade, investment, chinese currency, iran, north korea, climate change and human rights.”thats putting it mildly.this post has been revised to reflect the following correction:correction: