The signals from China during the US presidential campaign have been fairly relaxed, with Xinhua articles pointing out that relations with the US have been on a fairly good footing in the last several years, despite some of the pointed policies that the Bush Administration brought with them when they entered office. And they've noted that Kerry's Democrats are likely to be more sensitive on certain trade matters, such as the remnimbi rate.

That makes all the more striking the statement hitting the wires via Reuters just one day before the election.
On the eve of the U.S. election, China criticized the "Bush doctrine" of pre-emptive strikes, said the Iraq war has destroyed the global anti-terror coalition and blamed arrogance for problems dogging the United States around the world.

In a strongly worded commentary, Qian Qichen, one of the main architects of China's foreign policy, said the United States was dreaming if it thought the 21st century was the "American century."

"The Iraq war has ... destroyed the hard-won global anti-terror coalition," Qian said in the article in the English-language China Daily newspaper.

"(It) has made the United States even more unpopular in the international community than its war in Vietnam ... The 21st century is not the 'American century'. That does not mean that the United States does not want the dream. Rather it is incapable of realizing the goal."
Oh my... Somebody in DC seeing the campaigns' internal polls, maybe?

[UPDATE 10-31-04 11:30PM] by nadezhda
Seems that not all went smoothly on Secretary Powell's most recent foray to East Asia. A "slip of the tongue" may have produced not only a major brouhaha that managed to unite Taiwanese across the political spectrum in outrage. He may also have shot an $18 billion purchase by Taiwan of US weapons that the US has been pushing for the past three years.