China’s investment in US government bonds is fraught with risks, tepid returns and other vulnerabilities – all of which should motivate Beijing to unwind its holdings further and avoid being held “hostage” by Washington’s “exorbitant privileges”, a prominent scholar has said.
Di Dongsheng, vice-dean of Renmin University’s School of International Studies, warned the enormous sums of Chinese assets and capital parked in the US could be “taken hostage” by Washington if Beijing were to step up the defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“There’s no reason to load up on US Treasuries,” Di said in an article for the April issue of Contemporary International Relations, the journal of state think tank the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
“We have seen how Washington treated Russia’s overseas assets, and its sequestration of German and Japanese assets during World War I and…
