Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden assured China that the U.S. would “make good” on the over $1 trillion it holds in U.S. Treasury bonds, ignoring the fact that the country owes the U.S. $1.6 trillion in sovereign debt during a recently unearthed 2011 speech as Vice President.
The forum, held on August 21 at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, occurred amid hysteria surrounding the United States’ financial downturn and surging deficit exacerbated by the Obama Administration’s policies. Just weeks before, America’s credit rating was downgraded for the first time in history by Standard & Poor’s.
Questioned by a medical student in attendance on whether the US would be able to “make good” on $1.17 trillion in US bonds owned by China, Biden assured the audience, “You’re safe,” amid laughter and applause — after, of course, praising the inquirer and apologizing for the state of the US economy and downgrade.
More from the exchange:
Q: China holds about $1 trillion U.S. bonds of treasury bonds. And that much money — actually the value is uncertain because of the downgrade of U.S. credit rating. You seem to have instilled the confidence of the U.S. financial well-being into young people today because I heard you say that the U.S. economy is really resilient. And — but words alone cannot ease the mounting concern over the safety of China’s assets. So we would like to hear more about what measures you’re going to implement to reduce those deficits and redeem the financial strength of America.
A: …[T]he Chinese people should take solace.  In order for us not to make good on China’s debt, we would have to disappoint tens of millions of Americans who own 85 percent of that debt. And just in pure political terms, no politician wants to do that. (Laughter.) You’re safe. (Applause.)
At the time, numerous mainstream outlets picked up on the Vice President’s statement, but not one reported on the treacherous hypocrisy behind Biden’s assurance. What Biden failed to mention was that China owed the US an even greater debt at the time, for which it has never once been held accountable.
“If the roles were reversed and this was money owed China, they would have already taken treasuries, critical infrastructure, airports, deep water ports, railways, properties to satisfy the debt owed them,” said Jonna Bianco, founder of American Bondholder Foundation.
“We have seen this action by the Chinese Communist Party in Sri Lanka and other places around the world, especially in the African region.”
Setting aside the incalculable sum China’s rise has cost us in offshoring production, manufacturing jobs, and intellectual property theft, and not even taking into account the trillions of dollars lost by the coronavirus pandemic the CCP unleashed, China currently owes 20,000 US bondholders $1.6 trillion in sovereign debt.
This debt goes back more than a century. Beginning in 1912, hard-working American citizens shouldered the burden of industrializing a completely defunct China through the purchase of sovereign bonds, on which Beijing defaulted in 1938. Biden’s 2011 assurance of China’s “safety” in American investment was, in fact, true — America always has and always will pay back its debts. In fact, we continue to pay China $72 million in interest on our Treasury bonds daily.
Although China defaulted in 1938, sovereign debt never expires. Per international law, China remains culpable for paying back its obligations to America. American Bondholders Foundation, based in Tennessee, represents the 20,000 American citizens who have never seen a penny of the debt they are owed by our existential enemy. Many of these original investors are still alive today.
To help right the wrong, the ABF, established in 2001, proposes a debt swap. The policy is under active consideration by President Trump’s administration.
Apologists like Joe Biden continue to prioritize China’s financial interest and sense of security over our own citizens’. The Sichuan speech is just one glaring example of elite hypocrisy, negligence, and unwillingness to hold China accountable for what is rightfully owed to hard-working Americans.
China has always been given preferential treatment from Wall Street, the Democrats, and especially Joe Biden.
Biden’s America Last mentality has been the chief enabling force behind the rise of our greatest enemy for decades, and Americans can no longer remain complacent.
