Title: China's secret? It owes Americans nearly $1 trillion - oregonlive.com
Headings: China's secret? It owes Americans nearly $1 trillion
China's secret? It owes Americans nearly $1 trillion
By Richard Parker
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Content: However, it is one thing for government decision-makers to let go of government debt, however questionable that is. And it is entirely another thing for individual citizens to press their claims. Some U.S. investors tried to sue the Chinese government in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act makes it very hard for any U.S. citizen to sue a foreign government in U.S. courts because the law generally says that U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction. The law usually only allows the jurisdiction of U.S. courts if a foreign government waives its immunity, commits a tort or seizes property. Recent additional exceptions have been added for terrorism. China lost an initial summary judgment for failing to appear in court but, with the urging of the U.S. State Department, later appeared in court and successfully argued that U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction. Today, the Chinese bonds held by U.S. investors may be worth as much as $750 billion, according to Jonna Bianco, president of the American Bondholders Foundation, who estimates the value of bonds held by investors worldwide may be $10 trillion, including interest and penalties for default. Over the years, congressional interest has been piqued. The late Rep. Henry Hyde convened hearings in 2003 and advocated that the bondholders press their case.