US Vice President Joe Biden has said that his country would never default on its debts, during a visit aimed at boosting Chinese confidence in America's beleaguered finances.
In a speech to hundreds of university students in the vast southwestern city of Chengdu, Mr Biden also urged China to ‘cherish’ a free flow of information between the government and public, as the communist state quells dissent anew.
Mr Biden said at Sichuan University that the United States remained the ‘single best bet’ for investment, despite the historic downgrade this month of the country's top-notch credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
China is the largest foreign holder of US debt, and Mr Biden has used the five-day trip to assure its leaders that their massive investment remains safe after Washington narrowly avoided a catastrophic default earlier this month.
Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping, have been conciliatory in their public appearances with Mr Biden.
That stands in sharp contrast to China's state media, which has accused US leaders of acting recklessly during a political impasse between the White House and Republicans over allowing the country's debt ceiling to rise.
Mr Biden's visit has been aimed partly at building ties with his counterpart Mr Xi, who is slated to be anointed as China's top leader next year but remains virtually unknown in US policy circles.
On Friday, Mr Wen expressed confidence in the US economy and said Mr Biden had ‘sent a very clear message to the Chinese public that the United States will keep its word and obligations with regard to its government debt’.
China has used the proceeds of its thriving export machine to invest around $1.2tn in US Treasury bonds, and the world's second-largest economy has appealed for global financial stability as panic again grips markets.
During his speech, Mr Biden also called the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran ‘a direct and serious threat to the security of the United States and our allies’.
He urged China to ‘send a clear message’ to Iranian leaders that they ‘must live up to their international obligation’, and also expressed concern about North Korea.
Biden raised human rights concerns during his meetings with Chinese leaders last week, US officials have said, but they refused to go into details of whether any individual cases were brought up.
Washington last week appealed to Beijing to free prominent rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has not been heard of since last year.
