The US government is in debt an amazing $8 trillion, which averages out to over $25,000 per US citizen (have you added that number to your net worth profile)

Contrast that with the $1 Trillion US Dollars the Chinese government has in reserves, which is due to rise a few trillion dollars every few years.

The Chinese own so much of the US debt, that they can effectively move US interest rates by increasing or decreasing their demand for the debt, meaning eventually any movements the US tries to make as far as cutting or raising interest rates to control the growth of the US economy would effectively have to be cleared with China first.

Imagine....having our capitalism based economy "controlled" by a communist country. Scary.