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In Beijing, Clinton's Own Straight Talk Express
For a diplomatic meet-and-greet, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's weekend visit to Beijing produced a surprising number of developments. They all seemed to fall in the category of things which are known but not usually said, especially by diplomats. As I wrote on Saturday, Clinton signaled ahead of her arrival that she wasn't going to let human rights, long a bilateral bugaboo, interfere with advancing progress between the U.S. and China on issues like the global economy. On Sunday she encouraged China to continue buying U.S. Treasury bonds. I guess you could argue one naturally follows the other. It's hard to make a pitch for buying U.S. debt at the same time you're railing about China's human rights record. At the same time, it's not as if China has many other good options for investing that money, so perhaps Clinton didn't need to make so desperate a pitch. At Daiyutai on Saturday Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Beijing would continue putting its exchange reserves in investments that are safe, liquid and offer good value. He stopped short of saying China will continue buying U.S. Treasuries with the same enthusiasm of the past, but it's hard to see where else it could go.
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1
I think China should stop buying US assets and Treasuries and put its money on better stuff like Russian and Mexico oil and gas. They are not as liquid, but China has other liquid assets like RMB. Russians and Mexicans are way more reliable than Americans, anyway. You know what Russians and Mexicans will do with your money. You have no idea whether the US will use it to buy Chinese goods or not.
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2
The world now knows why Clinton chose to visit East Asia first, for that is where the money would come from.
Clinton pleads for more investment from China and Japan, requesting particularly China to buy the US treasury bonds. These two giants of the East have been the most faithful collectors of American bonds, indirectly fueling as well as sustaining the luxurious extravagance life of Americans.
With the mammoth trillion tax cuts and bank bailouts, the US is in dire need of cash to maintain the smooth functioning of its gigantic governance. However, this will doubtlessly continue pushing up relentlessly its gargantuan debt.
I asked several times before where all the money would come from to stimulate the stimulus package, wondering at the same time if China would want to buy the bonds again.
The bottom line is China may well be obliged to help out reviving the US crippling economy, but will the US appreciate and know when to RECIPROCATE the Chinese generosity?
(Tan Boon Tee, btt1943@yahoo.com) -
3
And Obama visited Canada first. Was it because that's where money is coming from too ?
Anyway, if Clinton wanted money, she did it right. Japan was the first country she visited. And I can see why Xi is in Mexico too - money. Hat in hand, palm out stretched...
I think it is very good that China think that it is the only entity that will buy US Treasury bonds. This will be very good for world economy.
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