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.

  • yhorm@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    if you owe your bank manager a modest debt you are in his power; if you owe a huge debt, he is in yours.

      • mazelado@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They are a very influential, very conservative American think tank. They advocate for things like anti-communism, neoconservativism, the Christian right, smaller government, bigger military, traditional family values, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, white supremecist ideas, voting restrictions - generally all the most destructive policies of the last 50 years.

          • Mayoman68@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Because “family values” in US discourse is usually code for homophobia and sexism, while “anti-communism” is usually just racism, classism and xenophobia.

            • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yeah saying “usually” and assuming a US discourse while not explaining what is wrong with a traditional family value and anti communism is not what I expected. Should have know that people only think in USA while in their “America bad” mind state. My bad.

              Thing is, ironically, the only people whom have treated me and my people with racism, classism and xenophobia are leftists, be from Europe or north America. Weird.

              • Mayoman68@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                What is your ethnicity if I may ask? Because the anti communism bit does vary per society somewhat, but “traditional family values” are usually a far more constant in discouraging a wide variety of perfectly fine things.

                • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I don’t know what ethnicity I am, but leftists love to call me and my people brown gusano even tho we are not from Cuba

          • TommySalami@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            These concepts are perverted into justification for actions that are either entirely irrelevant or only related to these values through a very, very specific lens.

            An example is family values being used as a cudgel against acceptance of LGBTQ individuals/communities for quite some time now. Or how “communism” quickly became a synonym for “not explicitly conservative”.

  • kurosawaa@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    What a dumb article. Britain was broke in the 80s and needed the money and pressed the issue. China was weak at the time and wanted Hong Kong back peacefully. Under those circumstances it made since to pay the debt. Today China has the second largest economy in the world and zero incentive to pay back America, and no one expects them too.

    There is no such magic thing as calling in a debt. If China is in default and no one cares, the debt practically does not exist. Americans complaining about it won’t affect China’s interest rates or anything else.