re: International finance guys...question about world debt

Countries don't really lend money to each other in the manner you are alluding to. Financial institutions and individuals own the debt in the form of bonds, t-bills, etc. Yes, China is our largest creditor, but they are still a minority holder of our nation's debt. They themselves own a bunch of our Treaury securities that can generally be traded on the market. And it's not like they are taking money out of their treasury and giving us a big loan. It's all generally part of the same system. That's why it's stupid when you hear someone like Trump suggesting that we default on our Chinese debt because screw them. It would unravel our financial system and likely that of the world.