China our not-so-silent partner now
“Exerting its new influence as the U.S. government’s largest creditor, China yesterday demanded that the Obama administration “guarantee the safety” of its $1 trillion in American bonds as Washington goes further into debt to combat the economic crisis.
Chinese Premier Wen Jinbao made the demand at the end of the National People’s Congress in Beijing at a time when relations between the two nations show fresh signs of strain.
“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets,” Wen said. “To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.”
China surpassed Japan last year as the largest foreign holder of Treasury bonds. Any indication that it intends to cease those purchases — or, worse, stage a sell-off — could drive up the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government, as well as send mortgage rates higher for millions of Americans.”
What’s true for individuals and businesses is true for countries as well: If you borrow enough money from somebody, you give them a voice in your business. And that’s what we’ve done with China. The good news is that China’s stake in America is so large that they want us to succeed almost as much as we do. But it’s not a good situation for a superpower, and it’s been coming on for a long time.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
147 comments Add your comment
Jay
March 14th, 2009
10:03 am
A couple of housekeeping announcements: Commie’s temporary exile has ended; and the poster last night who suggested violence against another poster has been banned. He called himself “Trash” for that post, but it was not the regular who goes by a similar name.
Please continue to act with respect toward others on the blog.
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:05 am
It would be so interesting to be able to see just 50 years into the future but I think as Americans we would all be horrified. Just one man’s opinion …….. but at least I know the last chapter …..
)
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
10:11 am
We got bigger problems then China-
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday.
How’s the Ruble doing, who knows, we might even have greater purchasing power.
China demanding guarantees, Russian bombers 90 miles off the coast, Department of Education activists in Palestine, siding up with the Taliban.
Anybody see a trend here?
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:14 am
To I Report/You Whine:
That’s why I think we would (and our forefathers) be horrified.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:16 am
In honor of our no-longer-exiled “CommunistAJC”, I decided to post a message in reply to the Wall Street Journal’s opinion column about stem cell funding with the screen name “Fascist WSJ”, wherein I insulted the author (called him a “hack”), told him his paper was going down the tubes, and that he didn’t know what he was talking about.
How do you think my post will be treated? Go ahead, have a look at their forums. See if you can find my post in there.
If they don’t print my rude, drive-by post, can I gripe incesantly about being “censored” like IR/YW, Commie and all the others who I won’t mention but who oughta know better?
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:22 am
Jay:
Do you think our “relationship” with China is similar in any way to our “relationship” with Japan in the 1920’s/1930’s ? For example, Japan was depending on us for steel, etc. and we cut them off.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:22 am
So Jay, you’re saying our decades-old policy of putting our nation’s balls in a vice in exchange for cheap plastic crap probably wasn’t such a good idea in retrospect?
Private Parts
March 14th, 2009
10:30 am
They play joke. They put pee-pee in our Coke.
AmVet
March 14th, 2009
10:39 am
Money trumps everything.
How else can one explain how the brutal dictatorial Red Chinese are constantly awarded (rewarded?) most favored nation status by us?
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:45 am
Pvt. Parts, your “joke” @ 10.30 is offensive, racially insensitive, and not nearly as funny as Eddie Murphy’s old stand-up bit about a Chinese restaurant waiter saying “Velly funny, velly funny” whilst urinating in the soup.
Hillbilly Deluxe
March 14th, 2009
10:47 am
Corporal @10:22
Interesting analogy there. We’re in the Japan role and China is in the U.S. role. I’m afraid we’ll come to rue the day we got into this.
DB @10:22
It looks like we sort of chose short term gratification with long term pain.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:51 am
Oh, and Midori, if you’re up and about–I saw your post from last night about the MST3K box set. I’ve seen Soultaker (eh) and Final Justice (brilliant! but it helps a teeny bit if you’ve first seen their send-up of Mitchell, also starring Joe Don Baker, and know something of the backstory about MST and Mr. Baker, who apparently did not take kindly to the first parody and presumably wanted to kill someone after the second…)
Haven’t seen the episodes from Season one and four that are included, and await your reactions to same when the opportunity arrives.
Herbert Cornfeld
March 14th, 2009
10:51 am
Hey, it worked well for 230 years, but the US is circling the drain. People deserve lousy treatment for being idiots and voting for trash with no problem solving skills who constantly lie to the masses. China
is owed dollars that the US will never pay, so it’s either red or dead. That, or you’ll be working the rice fields, chop-chop.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
10:53 am
Bookman, I thought I was banned three days? At least I think I remember you writing that.
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
10:54 am
The same cannot be said of cap-and-trade. It would take some $600 billion out of the private sector economy in order to avoid an environmental crisis that is supposed to arrive in — oh, some time around 2055. In other words, we are not dealing with here-and-now facts, as we are in the financial crisis, but with predictions based on theories … theories that have not done a very good job of predicting the climate over the last decade (they said it would get warmer; it’s gotten a little colder). Theories that do not retrospectively explain climactic variations in the past.
We are dealing here with something more like religion and less like science. We are told that all argument about global warming must end. We must have faith! But it is religion that asks us to have faith; science presents us with theories that can be tested by observation and produce replicable results — and the results for 2055 aren’t in.
We are told that we must repent of our misdeeds, for driving SUVs or (unless you’re Al Gore or a Hollywood liberal) flying in private jets. And we are told that we must atone for our sins, by paying more for every bit of energy we use and remembering to recycle.
Repent from thee junk science, ye heathens.
Thoust dullards.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
10:55 am
DB, Gwinnettian, nice try home slice. Besides, your link didn’t work.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:57 am
Yep, nothing like a cold, miserable, rainy Saturday morning like this to remind you of the long-deferred indoor home maintenance work that awaits. Oh joy.
Later, all, be excellent to one another.
One last thing–anyone signing up for Peachtree? A reminder — the 10K online registration starts tomorrow morning. Here’s hoping the AJC’s server doesn’t melt with approximately 45,000 people signing up at 7am.
(but I’ve got a qualifier under my belt, should be ok even if I can’t get in right away.)
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:59 am
cajc @ 10.55, this link?
http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php?t=5461
Works for me. There’s nothing posted yet, but that’s where any comments to the stem cell piece are supposed to appear.
Guess you’re going to go on equating this daily newspaper with despotic, murdering regimes of the 20th century. Real class act you are.
Outa here for real now.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
10:59 am
Now as far as China goes, this was inevitable. The MSM refuses to talk about it and instead tries to brainwash the public with ridiculous stories of OctoMom and Brad Pitt. China now has a navy and super nano weapon technology that NO ONE in the media has talked about. Not even Fox News. I’ve read articles from a Russian defector who knows first hand what China is capable of. China could bury us on two fronts. One, they could bury us financially and the warning signs are here. Two, they could annihilate us with their nano weapons known as the Assassin’s Mace. We ended WW2 by dropping the H bomb. The weapons China has can wipe us our quicker.
Paul
March 14th, 2009
11:08 am
Jay
[[The good news is that China’s stake in America is so large that they want us to succeed almost as much as we do.]]
Thank heavens – that may be our only break. Good illustration of what happens when one country takes a short-term view and another takes a long-term view.
DB, Gwinnettian 10:22
I like a laugh in the morning -
AmVet
Money and power, man. It usually gets back to money and power…
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
11:09 am
Well, being so beholding to China and us being a nation that abides by all those rules of law and such, one cannot help but wonder if CommunitAJC’s choice of labels is that far off the mark. I mean, with all the bankruptcies and declining asset values and such, folks over in China might just be asking for all sorts of extra collateral such as deeds to real estate and maybe even some more extensive name changes to more accurately reflect the change in management such as CommunistFED and CommunistIRS and CommunistGOP and such. I mean, once you sell yourself, regardless of the price, you’re pretty much labeled a prostitute from that point on. So, we’re a nation of, well, you know…get used to it, fellow hoes. We have a reputation. We’ll do anything for a buck.
mike
March 14th, 2009
11:15 am
Commie –
What did you do to get banned? With all of the hate speech flung around here, I am curious what it takes to get kicked out.
mike
March 14th, 2009
11:18 am
DB, Gwinnettian –
I wouldn’t read too much into the WSJ’s policies. The NYT won’t even post respectful comments that disagree with the writer’s premise.
Every paper has different standards, and I think the AJC would well served to make their own stricter, although the need not go to the NYT’s extreme of censoring content for not sticking to partisan lines.
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
11:21 am
Aahhh, yes, a little gem missing from the blog narrative-
“President Obama and his new government have adopted a series of measures to deal with the financial crisis. We have expectations as to the effects of these measures,” Wen said. “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.”
They don’t trust our glorious dimwit either.
Eleanor Rigby
March 14th, 2009
11:36 am
China should be worried. Well, they should have thought about that before they lent the money. Ha Ha. The reason we’re in this mess is because for too long citizens borrowed more money than they could pay back. Now the government is doing the same thing. There was a time when borrowing money was considered undesirable and a thing to be avoided. Debt is a ball and chain. We should have listened to our parents. Madness, madness! I’m afraid it’s the beginning of the end for America as we’ve known it.
Bud Wiser
March 14th, 2009
12:04 pm
Where oh where is Jimmy Carter and the other frenzied, foamy-mouth liberals when it comes to hearing about our dealing with a brutal, dictatorial nation such as China?
Money trumps all with the libs, whether you spend, sell, or buy, just deal in amounts more than you can fathom, and all will be well. Buy high, sell low, make room on the ledges for the jumpers.
Of course, if you are one of the countless tax cheats appointed to cushy government jobs, money means nothing anyway, because it is someone else’s money, not yours.
Bud Wiser
March 14th, 2009
12:05 pm
I hate rainy Saturdays when there is no football…….
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:07 pm
DB, Gwinnettian 10:57 am
I never agree with that which you write, however, your statement concerning deferred maintenance struck a very human chord. I wanted to offer some help to you.
Several years ago, the maintenance man for my home got behind and was not repainting the white horse fence boundary fence within one year. I let it slide and soon the flowers were planted a week late and other maintenance items fell behind schedule. I let it go on too long and, soon enough, other staff members becam sloppy.
The lesson was that one must change staff whenever deferred maintenance becomes evident. I had to force my property manager to fire the maintenance man beacuse it broke his heart to let go of Ol’ Walter who had been with us 17 years, but it had to be done.
You just need to be firm that deferred maintenance is unacceptable and make sure that the property manager handles the matter. One other thing, we hired a Salvadoran to take Ol’ Walter’s place and his work ethic has been far superior to that which we experienced with the Negro hands we had used before.
PJ
March 14th, 2009
12:09 pm
Maybe with this bit of news we will finally get our financial house in order. We must get our debt down, start buying American made products, stop shipping jobs over seas, have reasonable trade policies, improve our educational systems (they are our future), use diplomacy instead of war, regulate our businesses to insure safety and compliance, and most of all support our President. This is no time for petty arguments and wishing ill. Everything we stand for is at stake and I do mean everything. We can disagree without being disagreeable. We tried the Conservatives way for eight years now lets try the other. We can continue to bicker among ourselves and watch as almost 233 years of this Republic falls by the way side. We can cast blame on each others parties til the end of time and see it all go for nothing. Or we can come together, like we have done countless times, and get this debt off our backs. I find much of what is said here and elsewhere sometimes amusing for one must be able to laugh yourself and others just to keep up a front but please keep in the back of you minds that we have a serious problem here and a long way to go to get ahead of it.
RW-(the original)
March 14th, 2009
12:10 pm
I see that our tax cheat Treasury secretary is now trying to get all the G-20 countries to pass their own Porkulous bills to give PresBO some cover. They don’t appear to be as stupid as us so far though. Maybe since they’ve already been where we’re headed they know better.
mike
March 14th, 2009
12:11 pm
PJ –
Fine sentiments, but did you feel the same about “supporting the President” when Bush was in office?
getalife
March 14th, 2009
12:13 pm
Actually, they are afraid we will default like any other lender.
The safest investment in the world is now a risk like any other investment.
Of course, our country is collateral and our risk is even greater.
We should never allow gop to gain power and put us at this horrible risk ever again.
Probably need a maximum credit limit for our country just in case Americans elect them again.
mike
March 14th, 2009
12:15 pm
getalife –
Yeah, especially now that Obama has (as you absurdly said yesterday) “saved” the banks and cut spending. LOL
Jay
March 14th, 2009
12:19 pm
Mr. Harris is now banned for three days.
getalife
March 14th, 2009
12:19 pm
mike,
The cuts will come in his second term. Remember, he is using the Clinton team and they know how to balance the budget.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:33 pm
getalife 12:19 pm
You must be too young to remeber the 90s; Newt and the Republican Congress forced a balanced budget. Rember the showdown that forced the government shown down that spawned Lewinski and Presidentially endorsed moral decay over what is or isn’t sexual contact.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:33 pm
mike, get in an argument with a lib blogger who calls you a klanner. After that, call the op-ed columnist a couple of names. That should do it.
Eleanor Rigby
March 14th, 2009
12:34 pm
PJ, I couldn’t agree more. This is definitely the time to work together to get this country back on the right track. Unfortunately, it seems we are more polarized now than ever before.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:36 pm
Taxpayer,
you can actually be pretty funny every now and again. Man, it is such a beautiful day out here in Chicagoland. St. Pattys celebrations everywhere. They are dying the river green. Saw it last year. Ehh it was ok, nothing to write home about. Too many drunks running around but it was all in fun. I’m going to go down to the local Irish Pub on Roscoe and have myself some fish and chips with a pint of Guinness. MMMMMMMMMM I do love Guinness. And Chimay.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:39 pm
Fellow Georgians, just be glad that you all don’t live in Illinois.
Illinois Income Tax May Jump 50 Percent
Gov. Pat Quinn Says Tax Hike Is Needed To Fight Deficit
CHICAGO (CBS) Gov. Pat Quinn confirmed Friday that he plans to raise taxes on some Illinois residents to combat deficits in a difficult state budget, and called for broader tax reform.
Quinn said Friday that he plans to hike taxes for families that make more than $56,000 a year.
But Quinn contends his income tax proposal would amount to a tax cut for millions of Illinoisans by increasing the personal exemption to let them shield more income from being taxed.
“It’s very important that we raise taxes in a fair way for the people of Illinois in order to pay for important core priorities – whether it be safety, health, education, transportation, and so on,” Quinn said at a news conference at the James R. Thompson Center Friday.
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/income.tax.hike.2.958201.html
getalife
March 14th, 2009
12:43 pm
Wyld Byll.
Those were the good ole days when they gave away cars to come to work, Now they give away jobs.
Perhaps China will stop buying our debt now they are worried to help balance the budget.
PJ
March 14th, 2009
12:44 pm
To: mike @12:11 pm – It depends on what polices and values were at hand. I stood steadfastly behind him when we were attacked on 9/11 and wished him well in getting justice for that attack. But I did not agree with the War in Iraq even though as I said before My husband served under him until he retired and my son son served under him too and is currently serving now. I agreed with his stance to wipe out Aids in third world nations. But I did not agree with his changes to the Medicare system or his idea of putting Social Security in the Stock Market. As a Christian I liked the way changed his life. But I didn’t like how he tried to foster his beliefs others while at the same time innocent Iraq’s were being killed. I like his family, especially his daughters who appear to have grown up to be very grounded young ladies after their rough teenage years. But when it came to other people’s children breaking the law jail and the death penalty where his only answer. I like the fact that he wanted to be a strong, good and compassionate leader. But many of those attributes fell by the way side because of many of the people he had giving him advise. I agreed with him that home ownership was a good thing for our country and it’s people. But by not being a guardian of our financial house it allowed to many under handed financial institutions to take advantage of loosened rules. These and many more thing are the where I liked/agreed or disliked/disagreed with Former President Bush but that does not mean I ever wanted him to fail. Too much was and is at stake. Like I’ve said dissension is not a bad thing but wishing ill only hurts us all.
@@
March 14th, 2009
12:45 pm
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gestures during a news conference
What is that on the wall behind Jiabao, jay……..Jimmy Carter’s GIANT RABBIT?
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
12:46 pm
I’m with you, Bud. Rainy Saturdays suck.
Commie: NOTE that the Chadster has been sent to exile… a LIBERAL blog commenter getting the treatment for poor behavior. Hoist a pint to him, I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.
RW-(the original)
March 14th, 2009
12:51 pm
Does Chadly really count as a lib poster?
I would say no.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:52 pm
ByteMe,
what did the Chadmeister do?
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:53 pm
PJ,
I still think Jeb would have been the better president. He’s one smart dude.
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
12:53 pm
Really? I thought everyone to the left of Ann “The Man” Coulter was a liberal in TrueConservativeLand.
You mean there are degrees?? How… How… not black and white.
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
12:54 pm
Commie: beats me, look up higher in this comment thread for the note about it.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:55 pm
I think Chad was insensative toward others; a trait I find most unappealing in others.