The US must ease Beijing’s worries about its vast US debt holdings, China’s official media said yesterday ahead of a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden, warning that mishandling ties would lead to a “roller-coaster ride” that would sap global confidence.
Commentaries in the domestic and overseas editions of the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, spelled out Beijing’s chief concerns ahead of Biden’s arrival in Beijing yesterday evening.
China wants Biden to reinforce US assurances that its holdings of US dollar assets and US Treasury bonds remain safe, despite Standard & Poor’s (S&P) recent downgrade of the US’ long-term credit outlook, the paper said.
“China, as the biggest foreign creditor of the United States and the largest foreign holder of dollar assets, is naturally more concerned about US policies than others,” a commentary in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily said.
An English-language commentary from Xinhua news agency amplified that point.
“Biden is expected to assure Chinese leaders of Washington’s capacity, will and commitment to tackle its fiscal and economic challenges,” Xinhua said.
“What Washington should do is shoulder the global responsibility befitting an economic giant,” it said, also urging the US to “carry out responsible and effective measures to cure its debt addiction.”
Since S&P cut its credit rating for long-term US debt early this month, Chinese state media have accused Washington of reckless fiscal policies that have created uncertainty about Beijing’s big holdings of US dollar assets.
“Although there’s lots of reassuring going on, real relief appears nowhere in sight,” the Xinhua commentary said.
Analysts estimate Beijing has put about two-thirds of its US$3.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, in US dollars and is the US’ biggest foreign creditor.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS