"We hate you guys"

China will keep buying U.S. Treasuries. But not without some complaints

Published February 12, 2009 3:12PM (EST)

Luo Ping, a director-general of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, explaining how China feels about having to continue to buy U.S. Treasuries:

"We hate you guys. Once you start issuing $1 trillion-$2 trillion... we know the dollar is going to depreciate, so we hate you guys but there is nothing much we can do....

Ping, "whose English tends towards the colloquial," according to the Financial Times' Henny Sender, also asked "Except for US Treasuries, what can you hold? 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."

So China will keep buying U.S. debt. Somehow this is not entirely reassuring.


By Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21.

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