John Petty, who was an assistant treasury secretary during the Johnson and Nixon administrations, now heads the council. He said it was active before World War II and then again in the 1970s and 1980s because of unpaid East European bonds, but has not done much in the last 15 years.
Petty said he is prepared to assist those holding the Chinese bonds but needs some indication the administration is interested. "Unless you have the administration supporting the resolution of the problem, any intermediary is basically pushing on a string, he said.



