China Paper Prods U.S. to Act on Debt Situation

The United States must shoulder its responsibilities and take steps to soothe China's concerns over the security of its U.S. government debt holdings, a front-page editorial in the overseas edition of the People's Daily declared Wednesday.

The commentary by Shen Dingli, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, was published to outline the key topics for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's China visit, which begins Wednesday evening.

"China, as the biggest foreign creditor of the United States and the largest foreign holder of dollar assets, is naturally more concerned about U.S. policies than others," Shen wrote.

"We deeply understand that joint action would help the United States to overcome the difficulties, and we hope the visit of the U.S. vice president can help bilateral communications and dialogue," Shen added.

The People's Daily is the mouthpiece of China's Communist Party.

Biden's visit to China is part of a trip that will include stops in Mongolia and Japan in what the White House views as further outreach to a continent at the top of its foreign priority list.

The commentary also said that Tibet, Taiwan and South China Sea issues should be discussed.

"The U.S. has made worrisome moves recently. Free navigation in the South China Sea has not been interrupted, but the U.S. is frequently showing its muscles, and this won't help regional stability," Shen said.

Separately, the People's Daily said it had conducted an exclusive interview with Biden in Washington and his paraphrased comments were published in Chinese.

Biden did not mention specific debt or geopolitical issues but said he welcomed Chinese businesses to invest in the United States.