Posted on 07/04/2023 7:05:38 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Every country should pay its sovereign debt. Default, we are told, is not an option.
But has anyone told China?
The United States pays interest on approximately $850 billion in debt held by the People’s Republic of China. China, however, is currently in default on its sovereign debt held by American bondholders.
Successive U.S. administrations have chosen to sidestep this fact, allowing business and trade with China to proceed as normal. Now that the relationship with China has soured and the People’s Republic of China has become the greatest adversarial threat to the U.S. and Western security, policymakers should revisit this appalling failure of justice.
Some history is in order. Before 1949, the government of the Republic of China (ROC) issued a large volume of long-term sovereign gold-denominated bonds, secured by Chinese tax revenues, to private investors and governments for the construction of infrastructure and financing of governmental activities. Put simply, the China we know today would not have been possible absent these bond offerings.
In 1938, during its conflict with Japan, the ROC defaulted on its sovereign debt. After the military victory of the communists, the ROC government fled to Taiwan. The People’s Republic of China was eventually recognized internationally as the successor government of China. Under well-established international law, the “successor government” doctrine holds that the current government of China, led by the Chinese Communist Party, is responsible for repayment of the defaulted bonds.
A private group of American citizens holds a large quantity of these gold-denominated bonds. This citizen-led group, the American Bondholders Foundation (ABF), serves as trustee with power of attorney for some 20,000 bondholders, whose bonds are valued at well more than $1 trillion.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
There’s an old saying “I’d rather owe it to you than cheat you out of it”.
Probably have more luck collecting a few wheel barrows of cash from the Weimar Republic.
Much cheaper for China to have just bought up and/or blackmailed our pols and other leaders.
There’s lot that the Chinese are, but stupid isn’t one of them.
Joe Biden gave China $13B when SVB failed. China should do the same. Unless they bribed Joe Biden or something...
Not w Joe in office, he is bought and paid for by China.
More pre-war with China drama.
That sounds like dirty pool.
Japan is in the same boat over 1.1 trillion and the United Kingdom also in the same boat about 650 billion.
This is written to sound as if China is the bad guy.
Aren’t we talking about foreign nations holdings in the trillions of dollars in debt recently raised even higher by Kevin McCarthy and Joe Biden?
The National Debt Of The United States of America.
The wasteful spending over the decades including COVID in recent years.
I thought Taiwan is a real China. Make Taiwan pay if you think that it is legit.
“the ROC government fled to Taiwan”
looks more like Taiwan owes somebody some $$ to me.
Why is this zombie story re-appearing in The Hill? Why now? What’ the hidden agenda? Asking for a friend.....
No. Next question.
This is complicated, re Taiwan and the ROC.
Ordinarily, when a country changes gov’t, that does not excuse the new govt the reqmt to pay the country’s debt.
But the old govt still existed, and for many years continued to declare itself the govt of China. Even holding onto the UN Security Council seat.
So yes, Taiwan may be the obligatory party.
But there is a much deeper reality here that people need to understand. We saw it with the Greek upheaval around 2013.
There is no such thing as default of sovereign debt. There is no bankruptcy court that can expunge it. It is forever.
Courts can authorize seizure of property to pay the debt. This will happen when the target country is helpless, like Greece or Argentina or Venezuela.
But while there is no default, there is also the reality that money is a substance created from nothingness on whimsy by central banks. If some party doesn’t pay, and doesn’t need any imports, and can defend itself, they might as well just declare the debt does not exist.
Like WW II reparations from Germany, it will come up now and then, but no one can collect.
Funny.
It’s kind of absurd but it’s the chicoms who claim to be the successors.
If they deny it, then they have to deny their other ludicrous claims, such as claiming Taiwan.
Can count in you to spew Chicom apologist crap.
“ looks more like Taiwan owes somebody some $$ to me.”
That’s perhaps the point.
Chicoms claim Taiwan, they claim succession.
They claim the debt therefore.
Unless the chicoms recognize Taiwan independence.
Japan and China the biggest holders of the debt of the United States of America its a fact Jack.
“ thought Taiwan is a real China. Make Taiwan pay if you think that it is legit.”
Taiwan is Taiwan. China is China.
But your comment addresses the point. Chicoms have to renounce ownership of Taiwan to say they don’t owe it.
Like all Chicom propagandists, you’re logic impaired.
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