????眼看最后期限迫近，美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)卻遲遲不能決定是提高政府借貸上限，還是去冒違約的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。在這種情況下，本周中國(guó)政府敦促美方迅速采取行動(dòng)，同時(shí)確保中國(guó)對(duì)美投資的安全。

????中國(guó)是世界第二大經(jīng)濟(jì)體，它向美國(guó)傳遞這樣的信息并不讓人感到意外。正如中國(guó)財(cái)政部副部長(zhǎng)朱光耀周一所言，中國(guó)是美國(guó)最大的海外債權(quán)人。

????中國(guó)的外匯儲(chǔ)備規(guī)模居全球首位，部分原因是中國(guó)政府通過(guò)控制人民幣匯率來(lái)鼓勵(lì)出口。雖然沒(méi)有公布具體數(shù)字，但中國(guó)用了很大一部分外匯儲(chǔ)備來(lái)購(gòu)買(mǎi)美國(guó)政府債券。截至今年7月份，中國(guó)持有美國(guó)國(guó)債1.27萬(wàn)億美元（7.80萬(wàn)億元人民幣），超過(guò)世界上其他任何國(guó)家。日本緊隨其后，所持美國(guó)國(guó)債數(shù)量為1.135萬(wàn)億美元（6.97萬(wàn)億元人民幣）。

????德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）認(rèn)為，倘若有哪個(gè)國(guó)家應(yīng)該擔(dān)心美國(guó)政府可能違約，那就是中國(guó)。德銀將中國(guó)列為美國(guó)第三大債券持有人，僅次于領(lǐng)取社保的美國(guó)民眾和美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)（U.S. Federal Reserve）。

????朱光耀稱(chēng)：“關(guān)于債務(wù)上限問(wèn)題，中方要求美方采取切實(shí)有效的措施來(lái)防止美國(guó)國(guó)債違約。”

????考慮到中國(guó)在美國(guó)國(guó)債中所占的比重，可以認(rèn)為中國(guó)希望打破美國(guó)政府債務(wù)上限所引發(fā)的僵局。從理論上講，中國(guó)政府可以用大量拋售美國(guó)國(guó)債，進(jìn)而可能造成后者價(jià)格暴跌來(lái)威脅美國(guó)。但這是個(gè)瘋狂的想法，沒(méi)有人會(huì)真的支持這樣做——至少不會(huì)認(rèn)真地或公開(kāi)地進(jìn)行支持，尤其是中國(guó)。

????針對(duì)美國(guó)債務(wù)上限問(wèn)題，各方都發(fā)出了如同末日預(yù)言般的警告。其中，中國(guó)的表態(tài)相對(duì)平和，而且類(lèi)似于2011年7月，也就是上次美國(guó)因國(guó)會(huì)僵局而瀕臨違約險(xiǎn)境時(shí)中國(guó)官方的論調(diào)。當(dāng)時(shí)民主、共和兩黨爭(zhēng)執(zhí)不下，最終造成標(biāo)普（Standard & Poor's）70年來(lái)首次下調(diào)美國(guó)政府的3A信用評(píng)級(jí)。

????據(jù)新華社（Xinhua）報(bào)道，朱光耀在周一的發(fā)言中回顧了2011年美國(guó)評(píng)級(jí)遭到下調(diào)時(shí)的情況。他表示，希望美方吸取歷史教訓(xùn)，認(rèn)識(shí)到作為全球第一大經(jīng)濟(jì)體和世界儲(chǔ)備貨幣發(fā)行國(guó)所應(yīng)承擔(dān)的責(zé)任。

????即使有人盼望中國(guó)采取干預(yù)措施，中國(guó)政府也可能得不償失。目前的局勢(shì)很微妙，而中國(guó)則會(huì)避免過(guò)度插手美國(guó)政府自己的事務(wù)，原因如下：

????原因之一是中國(guó)討厭美國(guó)對(duì)自己的內(nèi)政指手畫(huà)腳，而這也讓中國(guó)更不愿意插手美國(guó)的政策。美國(guó)智囊機(jī)構(gòu)布魯金斯學(xué)會(huì)（Brookings Institution）訪問(wèn)研究員孫云（音譯）指出，隨著民主、共和兩黨談判的進(jìn)行，選擇支持哪一方會(huì)讓中國(guó)處于困難境地。更有可能的是，中方可能將兩黨爭(zhēng)執(zhí)不休視為一個(gè)民主政府的特征——2011年，時(shí)任美國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)卿的希拉里?克林頓就曾向中國(guó)政府做出過(guò)這樣的解釋。

????As Congress drags its feet against a looming deadline to increase the nation's borrowing limit or risk default, China urged Washington this week to act quickly and ensure the safety of its U.S. investments.

????The message from the world's second-largest economy isn't surprising. As Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao noted on Monday, China is the largest foreign creditor to the U.S.

????The country has the world's largest stockpile of foreign-exchange reserves, partly due to its efforts to encourage exports by holding down the value of its currency, the yuan. China doesn't disclose its holdings, but a chunk of its foreign reserves is invested in U.S. government debt; as of July, the country held $1.27 trillion in U.S. Treasuries. That's more than any country, followed by Japan, which holds $1.135 trillion.

????If anyone should worry about a possible default, it's the Chinese, according to Deutsche Bank. It ranked China third as having the largest holdings of U.S. debt next to recipients of U.S. social security and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

????"On the question of the debt ceiling, the Chinese side feels the U.S. needs to take realistic and resolute steps to ensure against default on the national debt," Zhu said.

????Given China's stake, it's reasonable to think the country is positioned to break the debt-ceiling impasse. Theoretically, China could threaten a large sell-off that could potentially send bond prices into free fall. But that's a crazy idea that nobody is actually supporting -- at least not seriously nor publicly, especially not China.

????Of all the apocalyptic debt ceiling warnings, China's has been relatively muted. It's similar to the tone officials set in July 2011, the last time a stalled Congress pushed the U.S. to the edge of default. The fight eventually led Standard & Poor's to downgrade the U.S. government's AAA credit rating for the first time in 70 years.

????On Monday, Zhu recalled the 2011 downgrade, saying he hoped the U.S. would take a lesson from history and realize its responsibilities as both the world's largest economy and holder of the global reserve currency, according to Xinhua.

????Even if some expect China to intervene, officials likely have more to lose than gain. It's a tricky situation, and China will stay away from meddling too deeply in Washington's problems for a few reasons:

????For one, just as China hates when America criticizes its domestic policies, it makes China more reluctant to intervene in U.S. policies. More than that, choosing which party to side with could put China in a tough spot with negotiations down the road, says Yun Sun, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. If anything, the Chinese likely view the political wrangling in Washington as symptomatic of a Democratic government, as then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rationalized it to China in 2011.