How to Crack Down on China Like a Brother

China became a character in absentia in the last part of the Obama-Romney debate last night. Asked about how he differed from G.W. Bush, Romney said, "I'll crack down on China. President Bush didn't." Obama retorted: “you’re the last person who’s going to get tough on China.” Romney: “the president has a regular opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator, but refuses to do so. On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator.”

“For the President, Punch, Punch, Another Punch” - this New York Times story compared the debaters to “roosters in a ring” in fist fights. Huffpost has photos of the candidates in postures like a fist fight. Howard Fineman tweeted last night: “I've never seen a prez debate in which the personal animus and near-physical confrontation was so clear. Politics at its most primal level.”

All this reminds me of street fights among kids in China when I was young. Such fights were common in the 1970s, indeed an interesting part of the youth culture at that time. If two boys of equal size were on the verge of a fight, the one who had an elder brother could often browbeat the other and make him back down by saying, “Damn it, if you dare to put a finger on me, my big brother will hunt you down.”  Then there was another scenario. If either of the two engaged in a fight had a little brother, that hapless little guy could easily become a stake in the fight. The boy with no little brother would threaten the other by saying, “If you beat me, I’m going to beat up your little brother when you’re not around.” Nowadays I suppose this kind of scene has become quite rare because few kids (except in some rural areas) have brothers.

Was China the little brother or the big one last night?