Through cover-up and malfeasance, if not malevolent intent, China appears to have major responsibility for the Covid-19 pandemic. Said pandemic has cost the U.S. billions in direct costs and foregone economic activity.
China holds billions of dollars of U.S. Treasury debt - bonds and the like. Somehow there should be a way to use that debt to reimburse the U.S. for problems caused (or made worse) by China. Effectively a lawsuit for actual and punitive damages, or the nation-to-nation equivalent, whatever that might be.
Even the threat of doing so should cause the Chinese to sell debt instruments at a huge discount, meaning we could buy it back at pennies on the dollar. The downside is that a China which no longer holds billions of U.S. debt and no longer views us as its major customer may be freed up to engage in belligerent foreign adventures that risk war.
Current events make autarky more attractive, globalism less so.
Later ... A British paper, the Express, reports Germany has sent China a "bill" or invoice for supposedly owing Germany £130 billion for death, damages and lost revenue resulting from the coronavirus epidemic. Expect this trend to spread to other countries.
Do I need to add no one expects China to pay up? Unlike virtually every other country, the U.S. actually has a way to collect.
