Speaking of the economic conflict between China and the United States, there are no less than those old-fashioned accounts.In recent years, the United States has always loved to replace the old-fashioned accounts, especially in 2020, a Republican senator Martha McSally jumped out and put forward a resolution, shouting that China should clear the salary of the Lake Broad Railway bonds issued by the Qing government in 1911.

If not, the U.S. would have to assume the value of the $86 billion national debt it owes to China is not worthy to be acknowledged.

In May 1911, the Qing government borrowed 5 million pounds from the international community to build a railway between Hunan and Hubei. Among them, American investors grabbed nearly 40% of the share, or about 2 million pounds. This bond has an annual interest rate of 5% and a maturity of 40 years. It was originally intended to develop infrastructure and stimulate the economy.

But the Qing dynasty was shaking down at that time, when the Xinjiang revolution broke out, the regime changed people, the debt was thus thrown to the government of the People's Republic. In the early years of the People's Republic was still reluctant to pay interest, until the mid-1930s, because the war of resistance to Japan was widespread, the financing chain of the government of Nanjing was cut, and payments were completely stopped.

The issuance of this bond itself is through the smell of the bullying people of the great powers.The Qing government was beaten by the Opium War, the Ahad War and the Allied Army of the Eight, and the compensation was mounted in the mountains, and the compensation of the eight countries was 9.8 million two silver.

The United States did not directly ask for money at the time, but instead transferred the shares to build schools, such as the Qingdao school. But behind this, the Americans wanted to cultivate pro-US forces and solidify interests in China. Huangxi bonds are also similar to routes, lend money to you to build roads, and control resources and routes. As a result, money spent, roads repaired, and debt became a time bomb.

In 1979, U.S. bondholders were unable to do so. They went to the Birmingham federal court in Alabama for a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against China, demanding the payment of charity interest, totaling $4131 million. The case called Jackson to appeal to the People's Republic of China, and the holders took out the original old bonds with the seal of the Qing government and the English clause.

The court first accepted it, and in October 1981 also sentenced China to default and to pay damages. bondholders were delighted, thinking that they could finally save a penny.But China emphasized that New China did not inherit the inequal debt of the Qing Dynasty and the People's Republic, this debt was imposed by the forces.

The U.S. government itself is conflicted. In August 1983, Assistant Secretary of State Paul Wolfowitz went to Beijing for talks, and the two sides held a meeting at the Great Hall of the People. The United States supports China's diplomatic immunity on the grounds that sovereign states cannot be casually dragged down by private litigation.

As a result, on 27 October 1984, Judge Harold Murphy rejected all claims at the Birmingham Court. The plaintiff disagreed and appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court, whichined the original judgment in 1986.

On March 2, 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court directly refused to accept the case. The entire case dragged on for eight years and nothing was obtained. This matter is a typical example in the history of American law and established China's status in terms of sovereign immunity.

Why did the U.S. government speak for China later? To put it bluntly, China and the United States had just established diplomatic relations a few years ago, and officially recognized the People's Republic of China on January 1, 1979. The United States needs China to take sides in the Cold War, and the Soviet Union is under great pressure.

The debt is a small thing, putting it in front of the foreign affairs is nothing. Bond holders are angry to bite their teeth, but the court ruled it is judged, they can only look. Similar cases later, in 2019, some want to repeat, but no climate.

Moving to 2020, the old bill was overturned again. On August 13, Martha McSally threw out the S.Con.Res.43 resolution in the Senate. She was Arizona Republican Senator, retired Colonel of the Air Force, before pushing a few tough laws against China in Congress.

This resolution directly points to the fact that China has to repay the principal and interest of Huguang bonds. Based on the current exchange rate and compound interest, the total amount exceeds US$1.6 trillion. McSally said that the bonds bought by American investors back then are now worth so high that China will default if it fails to recognize the debt.

If not, the U.S. would restrict China¡¯s access to the U.S. capital markets, simultaneously questioning the validity of the $86 billion U.S. government bonds in China¡¯s hands.

Here we have to clarify the figures.China¡¯s US debt holdings in 2020 are actually around $1.06 trillion, and the 86 trillion of Maxwell may be conservative estimates, or partially deducted.But the numbers are there, the US debt to China is a real debt, and China is the second largest holder.

The resolution is not a single song by Maxwell, but Tennessee MP J.D. Wans has also pushed for a similar bill to restrict China¡¯s entry into the U.S. capital market unless the old debt is cleared.

In July 2023, there was also an article in the "Congressional Mountain Journal" that China owed US bondholders $1 trillion, and the United States had to force it back. but this accounting law is controversial, because war and regime change interrupted the debt chain, and in international law, the new regime does not necessarily inherit the old debt, especially the imposed.

The official response of China to this matter was indifferent. When asked several times, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they did not recognize old accounts and that New China did not owe the money. On August 17, 2020, Asia Finance reported the resolution, but China did not formally respond.

Because the similar tricks have been played too many times, it has long been seen. US Congress resolutions are many, proposals thousands, passed not a lot. This resolution is not over, under the epidemic Congress is inefficient, the Democratic control of the House of Representatives, not even let it come to law. McSally himself lost to Mark Kelly in the Arizona Senate supplementary elections in November that year, and his political career was so stacked.

The total amount of U.S. Treasury bonds has exceeded 35 trillion U.S. dollars in September 2025, and China's holdings will drop to 759 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 (. China has intended to de-dollarize in recent years, selling U.S. debt and exchanging it for gold and euros. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates, and the U.S. dollar hegemony is shaking, and the United States is anxious.

Turning over old scores is to default on the debt, or to make a rake, saying that if you don't pay me back this, I will not recognize the national debt in your hand. But the national debt is issued by the United States itself, recognized globally, and legally held by China. Deadbeat? That's tantamount to self-smashing the signboard, and the credit of the US dollar collapsed.

Historical debt is a common thing in the world. After World War II, Germany's debt to France and Japan's debt to the United States were settled through negotiation or exemption. The root cause of China's claim lies in the aggression of foreign powers, and the compensation model has been constant since the Opium War in 1840. The total compensation is 1.3 billion to 2 billion taels of silver, which is enough to clear the government's breath. Huguang Bonds are just the tip of the iceberg. The United States gave up Xin Chou's share of compensation and established Tsinghua University, but that was for long-term control, not really generous.

MacSally, such a politician, has been labeled Hawkeye. She has been a pilot of the Air Force since before politics, and has carried out missions in the Middle East, pushing military budgets and tariffs against China in Congress. In 2020, this resolution caught her campaign, borrowed play, pulled ballots. But it is true that bondholders are mostly scattered, the old paper of ancestors, now not worth a few dollars.

Why does the U.S. always like to talk about this?Because China has risen too fast.After the 2008 financial crisis, China exploded foreign exchange reserves, bought U.S. debt stability exchange rate, and earned interest.By 2020, China's debt exceeded 1 trillion, the U.S. Treasury report lists.

But now, China has reduced its holdings, from 9% in 2012 to 2.2% now. This shakes the status of the US dollar, and the United States can't sleep. The idea of default is not a day or two. In Trump's last term, someone mentioned exchanging old debts for tariff concessions.

Overall, this incident reflects the epitome of the Sino-US game. The United States wants to use history to kidnap the present, but China uses reality to fight back. Debt is not the problem, the problem is mentality. The United States must realize that China is not the weak country it was back then. In the future, economic decoupling will intensify, and the old debt card will be played out sooner or later.