Creditors getting restless

And I don't mean just mine.

China is starting to speak up publicly about concerns that I'm sure they have already expressed in private, namely that they are worried about the $682bn they hold in US Treasury bonds.

China should seek guarantees that its $682 billion holdings of U.S. government debt won’t be eroded by “reckless policies,” said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the central bank.

The U.S. “should make the Chinese feel confident that the value of the assets at least will not be eroded in a significant way,” Yu, who now heads the World Economics and Politics Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in response to e-mailed questions yesterday from Beijing. He declined to elaborate on the assurances needed by China, the biggest foreign holder of U.S. government debt.

I'd be worried, too, especially after the latest from Geithner that seems to be just more of the same failed policies of the Bush administration. Also, we learned today that Freddie and Fanny are going to need more than the $200bn pledged to date. Surprise, surprise.

But I fear the Chinese, like the rest of us, are going to have to bite the bullet. Asking for guarantees from the driver of a truck that has already gone off the cliff might disturb the driver's last moments, but won't have any other effect.