Posted on 2/15/2009, 8:35:59 AM by TigerLikesRooster
2009-02-14
The story originally had this key passage:
Mr Luo, speaking at the Global Association of Risk Management’s 10th Annual Risk Management Convention, said: “Except for US Treasuries, what can you hold?” he asked. “Gold? You don’t hold Japanese government bonds or UK bonds. US Treasuries are the safe haven. For everyone, including China, it is the only option.”
Mr Luo, whose English tends toward the colloquial, added: “We hate you guys. Once you start issuing $1 trillion-$2 trillion [$1,000bn-$2,000bn] . . .we know the dollar is going to depreciate, so we hate you guys but there is nothing much we can do.”
However, Mr Luo said Chinese officials would encourage its banks to finance domestic mergers and acquisitions rather than provide rescue finance to distressed financial companies in other countries: “There will be no bottom-fishing of financial institutions, particularly in the US, because there is a lot of uncertainty about the quality of the books.”
The bolded paragraph, particularly, was removed. Completely. I know because a copy was originally emailed to me. Note: Reuters did not disclose that this was an updated version of the release, nor did they change the timestamp on it from Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:22am EST, yet I can confirm the story has changed since 6:56pm on the 13th.
It seems like Reuters couldn't take the heat on how touchy this barely-balanced standoff between the US and China is, and how the runaway deficit spending threatens devaluation or hyperinflation.
Or maybe someone told them this part had to go.
Update: The full version of the quote can still be found in this FT version of the remarks.
Update 2: John from HousingDoom points out that this isn't the first time in recent memory that negative news about Treasuries has been snipped from a major wire service. It isn't disturbing to me that the government wants to minimize concern about the area where virtually all funding pressure is building in our economy. What is disturbing is that private wire services are pliantly censoring concern about these pressures, which are really just simple statements about supply and demand as pertains to Treasuries. Thank God for blogs...
Update 3: Yes, it happened -- here's a video record of Rep. Dan Burton reading out the shocking remarks on the floor of Congress.
Ping!
“Honey, we shrunk their comments!” /sarc
My name is Winston Smith. I work at the Ministry of Truth...
In all fairness to the Reuters news agency, they may simply have felt that Mr. Luo’s statement would be misunderstood if taken out of context. I really don’t believe that Mr. Luo meant that the Chinese people are filled with a burning hatred of everything American, or a passion to destroy us. Saying “We hate you guys” is obviously a humerous/rhetorical means of expressing the fact that, while they certainly don’t like the Fed for pursuing a policy which is sure to (eventually) devalue our currency, there isn’t anything they can do about it.
It’s not at all comparable to Kruschchev’s “We will bury you!”
Regards,
********Mr Luo, whose English tends toward the colloquial, added: “We hate you guys. Once you start issuing $1 trillion-$2 trillion [$1,000bn-$2,000bn] . . .we know the dollar is going to depreciate, so we hate you guys but there is nothing much we can do.”***********
One thing is certain this man knows more about the American dollar than Obama and his cooperative thieves in the Congress.
obama:You have two options you will be red or dead.
There’s probably something left unsaid here too... “and as soon as we find a better use for your stinkin’ dollars we’ll stop buying your overpriced Treasuries.”
I think some Chinese have discovered it...I read that groups of rich chinese are coming over and starting to buy up American land and real estate...Now from what pile of cash could they do this?...Why, Chinese held US bonds of course. Get ready for de facto Chinese colonization. Of course China will want to protect its new Chinese enclaves...get ready for Chinese military expansion!
yeah. That worked out so well for the Japanese who were going to buy up the United States. Ask them how their real estate investments went....
The chinese will fight to keep what they have. They won’t go away quickly. If they concentrate on clumped key areas instead of spreading the money thru-out the US they establish beach head areas(ie what Hong Kong was to Britain). Welcome to the new Chinese co-prosperity sphere!
China has an excess of men due to birth restrictions and the killing of baby girls. They need a new frontier . . . what perfect timing. obama can recruit them into his new military to keep us all in line.
More like the house organ of Eurosocialism at work.
Yeah I could just see the pitch...”Help me institute American socialism and come fight the imperialists(also America has “ho’s”!).
*IF* he does this (open treason, backed up by foreign troops from China), a Trident missile sub will nuke DC, whilst another takes out Beijing.
("Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution", still holds force.)
Cheers!
“You Guys” = Democrats
“1 Trillion” = inflation
2012 = Conservative Republican
I told my (Chinese) wife that the next time we
go to China, I want to go to the Great Wall and
shout at the top of my lungs:
“Mao!, Mao! ... he’s Bu-how!!!”
(Pronounced “Boo How”).
“How” means “good” and “Bu” means “no”. So Mao’s
NO GOOD!
I’m sure THAT would impress the Chi-Coms, huh??? :)
So next time I go to China and if I don’t make it
back here, y’all will know whut hoppened! :)
Howdy, Phil.
Great graphic. Love your stuff.
I have an authentic sweat stained much thumbed Little Red Book I asked my daughter to find for me on a visit to China. Too bad I have no Mandarin, eh.
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