China decries ticking time bomb of US debt
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks during a news briefing after the Democratic weekly policy luncheon July 26, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Senate Democrats discussed the latest development of the debt ceiling negotiation.
China's official news agency reacted with something close to scorn Wednesday at America's newly concluded debt-ceiling fight, calling the US debt a "ticking time bomb."
China has a special interest in that time bomb, given that it owns more of the US debt than any other single investor. The head of the central bank of China said earlier in the day that it would continue looking to diversify investments of its huge foreign currency reserves. Xinhua was more blunt in its commentary on the debt deal.
"The months-long tug of war between Democrats and Republicans, however, failed to defuse Washington's debt bomb for good, only delaying an immediate detonation by making the fuse an inch longer," Xinhua wrote. "Meanwhile, the madcap farce of brinkmanship has disclosed yet another ticking bomb in the heartland of the sole superpower in the world — the crippling tendency to politicize the economics while trivializing the politics."
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