Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has accused China of "raping" the US, in renewed criticism of China's trade policy.
He told a rally in Indiana that China
was responsible for "the greatest theft in the history of the world".
Mr Trump, a
billionaire businessman, has long accused China of manipulating its currency to
make its exports more competitive globally.
This, he says,
has badly damaged US businesses and workers.
"We can't
continue to allow China to rape our country, and that's what we're doing,"
he told the campaign rally on Sunday.
"We're
going to turn it around, and we have the cards, don't forget it," he
added. "We have a lot of power with China."
Mr Trump, in his campaign manifesto,
pledges to "cut a better deal with China that helps American businesses
and workers compete".
He sets out
four goals that include immediately declaring China "a currency
manipulator" and putting "an end to China's illegal export subsidies
and lax labour and environmental standards".
Figures from the US government show the annual
trade deficit with China was at an all-time high of $365.7bn (£250.1bn) last
year.
There was no immediate response from
Beijing to Mr Trump's comments, but he is seen by many in China as an inspiration rather than an
antagonist, says the BBC's Vincent Ni.
Donald
Trump has repeatedly accused China of manipulating its currency to make its
exports more competitive, with what he says are damaging consequences for the
US economy.
Rather
than floating freely against the dollar, the Chinese authorities ensure the
yuan maintains a closely fixed relationship with the US currency, and that it
only trades in a narrow band either side of a fixed point selected by China.
Critics,
including Mr Trump, claim China is keeping its currency at an unnaturally low
level to boost its exports to the US, which also damages the prospects of US
firms selling their goods to China. That, they say, has created in a huge trade
imbalance.
Latest
figures from Washington for US-China goods trade in January and February show
the relationship does appear to be skewed. In those months the US exported
$16.3bn in goods to China, but imported $73.3bn, leaving a massive goods trade
imbalance of $57bn.
Last
week, the US Treasury placed China (and others) on a currency watchlist, after
pressure on the US government to be more robust in combating any currency
manipulation by trading partners.
The
Treasury stated that none of its large trading partners had engaged in currency
manipulation in the past year, but indicated it was concerned about growing
imbalances with some of those partners, including China.
Protesters
This
is the first time Mr Trump has used the word "rape" in the context of
China and trade, but his campaign for the Republican Party's presidential
nomination has been punctuated by inflammatory comments.
He
was confronted by hundreds of protesters in California on Friday before giving
a speech to the state's Republican convention. Mr Trump was forced to enter the
building by the back entrance.
Protesters
were angry at his views on immigration: he has advocated building a border wall
with Mexico, and has also referred to Mexicans as "rapists" and
criminals responsible for bringing illegal drugs into the US.
Anti-Trump
protesters were also out in force during the annual May Day rallies in
California.
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