Beating up on China has become a favorite political pastime. This year Mitt Romney, playing against type-an avatar of corporate America-threatens to be tough on Beijing. This strategy might win a few votes but could end up discouraging reform within the People's Republic of China.

China's history is venerable but tragic. Mao Zedong dominated the PRC from its founding in 1949 until his death in 1976; his policies led to political chaos, pervasive poverty, and mass death. In contrast, his successors, led by Deng Xiaoping, moved China towards the market. The country remains authoritarian, but personal autonomy, economic freedom, and even civic space have expanded.

U.S. relations with Beijing never have been easy. Throughout the Cold War Washington recognized nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek's exile government on the island of Formosa, or Taiwan, as the legitimate government of all China. America and the Communist mainland had only minimal official contact until Richard Nixon's 1972 trip there. Washington finally switched recognition to the PRC five years later.

The bilateral relationship then was based on containing Soviet power. Now some Americans fear another hostile superpower is being born. Yet despite the headlines, often dominated by conflicts, such as today's controversy over the status of blind human rights attorney Chen Guangcheng, the U.S.-China relationship is overwhelmingly beneficial for both sides.