The Chinese people have taken to micro-blogging to broadcast their frustration concerning the S&P’s credit downgrade of the American debt rating. With their ire targeted the Chinese government, Chinese Internet sites were robust with criticism for Beijing’s willingness to lend to America an ever-increasing amount of funds from its foreign reserves. Usually, such subjects get very little attention from Chinese citizens. But, the Chinese people now have a target for what they have long viewed as a hindrance to their economic success: moving from one economic class to another has been stalled because of the government’s fiscal and monetary issues.
Decades ago, the communist Chinese government realized its biggest resource was its people, China is more capitalistic than most Westernized nations. Its infrastructure and urban building is unparalleled as is its manipulation of its currency, which allows its cheaply made goods to flood open markets. The irony is the one communistic action that is maintained at all cost is the lack of communication with the outside world. The average Chinese citizen does not have a complete view of their country’s political landscape, the role their country plays on the world stage, nor the lengths unto which it will go to secure it. With a stronghold in Silicon Valley and in America and Europe’s best colleges and universities, China now has the brainpower, formal training and cunning to turn memories from Tiananmen Square to the best that Hong Kong has to offer. Though its official statement is that it does not condone or engage in espionage, many international agencies from Scotland Yard to the U.S. Homeland Security to private firms like McAfee have produced evidence that points to major theft of intellectual properties by the Chinese.
“The United States’ sovereign credit rating suffered a downgrade, why did we become the biggest victim?” microblogger Sina Weibo wrote, one of the more popular sites, which had hundreds of such postings according to the New York Times. “China is always bowing to the United States, when will China really rise up and cast aside its constant fear of the United States’ reactions!”
Many of the blog posting questioned whether China was wise to invest over half of its country’s $3.2 trillion worth of foreign reserves in United State Treasury Securities. But, this is a prominent example of limiting access to the outside world. The microbloggers – or most Chinese citizens — do not know that China has a lower credit rating than the United States or limited options in it continuous plan to weaken its own currency in order to fuel it export machinery. There are no other financial institutions like the U.S. Treasury that can even come close to handling $1.5 trillion of China’s foreign reserves. It seems American consumerism has largely fueled China’s exponential growth.
