Politico reports that a top Clinton adviser quit

Clinton adviser quits over China rhetoric by Lisa Lerer

A top expert on China has resigned as an informal adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign in the wake of the candidate's increasingly harsh anti-China rhetoric.

Richard Baum, a political science professor at the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA, resigned in light of what he called “grossly misguided accusations” made by Clinton about China.

“As a lifelong Democrat, it saddens me that Senator Clinton has chosen to take the low road in her effort to gain our party’s presidential nomination,” Baum said in an e-mail to Politico.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Politico.

Clinton recently has ratcheted up her anti-China sentiments, criticizing the country on everything from its human rights violations to its undervalued currency.

“I’m the only candidate who isn’t just talking about cracking down on China but I have a specific plan on how to do it,” she told union members at the AFL-CIO’s Building Trades National Legislative Conference on Wednesday.

“China should be our trade partner not our trade master.” Read the full story here