The threat payed off, the then Chinese President Li Xiannian ended up paying the U.K. $23.5 million pounds in a settlement.
According to bond-risk firms Moody’s, Standard & Poors and Fitch, China is currently in selective default since they have only repaid certain bondholders. Because of this, Beijing can be frozen out of international debt markets.
McSally’s resolution read as follows:
“It is the sense of Congress that the President should do everything in his power to achieve resolution and repayment of the defaulted sovereign debt of the People’s Republic of China held by 20,000 families in the United States who are represented by the American Bondholders Foundation.”
American Bondholder President Jonna Bianco was thrilled with the resolution, commenting, “We are pleased that our Senate leadership — and we’ve got one coming out of the House as well — are expressing their support in holding China accountable, consistent with America’s message to the president: Hold China accountable.”
