That's a really nice piece, specially given the comparisons used in the article. However, as a layman, I wonder whether 1) chinese socialism and 2) its ownership of other major countries' debt make it all different or not. I suppose it does. Their government seems able to do "magic" tricks with its economy without pretty much any foreigner nosing around, and it also seems to me that the chinese are everywhere. I don't recall japanese companies owning so much of the world back in the 90's as the chinese do now with their infrastructures projects in South America and Africa, the US's debt thing etc. I think if they ever fail like the japanese did, they'd eventually drag a lot of countries with them down the hole because of these global tentacles.
Except if the only part of this article worth analysing is its very end: "[...] or permitting foreign banks to compete [in the chinese market]", then it's case closed and it was just a piece of banking propaganda against China.
Japan is actually the second biggest foreign holder of US debt. As of February 2014, Japan held 1.210 trillion of US debt while China held 1.272 trillion.
I am having trouble finding historical data, but what I can find from the 90s indicates that Japan alternated for the top foreign US debt holder with the UK. I am not really sure what data to look for general Japanese foreign investment.
> I don't recall japanese companies owning so much of the world back in the 90's as the chinese do now with their infrastructures projects in South America and Africa, the US's debt thing etc.
Don't you? There were jokes about how the Japanese owned so much of California they might as well buy the state from the US.
Except if the only part of this article worth analysing is its very end: "[...] or permitting foreign banks to compete [in the chinese market]", then it's case closed and it was just a piece of banking propaganda against China.