PROVIDENCE, R.I.--

Months ago, a Mitt Romney aide famously declared an "Etch A Sketch" campaign--whereby the candidate would erase what he'd done before (like shaking an Etch A Sketch toy) and draw a more appealing portrait for a general electorate. That image is apt, in an unwelcome way, for a Romney now bashing China for taking American jobs. Romney's private-equity company, Bain Capital, did its bit to help China win the work, and with enthusiasm.

In the second presidential debate, Romney accused China of "cheating," mainly by holding down the value of its currency. But that doesn't shake clean the Bain prospectus promoting China's "strong fundamentals"--among them, wages 85 percent lower than Americans'. "Accordingly," the prospectus reads, "Bain Capital expects to see an increasing array of high-growth companies available for investment."

Does that sound like anyone wanting to see the Chinese currency rise in value? The stronger the Chinese currency, the harder it is for Bain's (or anyone else's) Chinese factories to sell their wares on world markets.

Offering another viewpoint, workers from Freeport, Ill., demonstrated this week at the Massachusetts headquarters of Sensata Technologies, a Bain Capital creation that has moved thousands of Americans jobs offshore. Sensata made the Illinois workers train the Chinese who would take their jobs as a condition of receiving their meager severance pay. Sound familiar?

Part of Romney's rap against China is the stealing of U.S. technology. But Microsoft had accused Bain's Chinese retailer, Gome Electrical Appliances, of pirating its software. And Global-Tech, a Bain Chinese appliance company, was found to have violated a U.S. patent held by a French company.

Around the time Etch A Sketch left for China, Asimco Technologies bought two auto-parts factories in Michigan, closed them, and laid off 500 Americans. Bain saw the "strong fundamentals" of Asimco's operations and acquired the company. Today, Asimco makes the same camshafts on land donated by the Chinese government. China has designated this area as an export metropolis, showering the companies that move there with a variety of government subsidies.