China threatens to trigger US dollar crash

The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US Treasury bonds if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.

US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Chinese president Hu Jintao: China threatens to trigger US dollar crash
Henry Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, met with Chinese president Hu Jintao in Beijing last week

Two Chinese officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning, for the first time, that Beijing may use its $1,330bn (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.

Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is breaking down through historic support levels.

It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession.

THE ARTICLE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/08/cnchina108.xml