2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [78]
“First and foremost, we understand the disaster that has befallen you, and if there is anything on the humanitarian side that we are not doing, let us know and we will fill in those gaps immediately. However, we can no longer lend the United States this kind of money.”
When Susanna heard that, she didn’t flinch. Maybe he meant they would only loan two trillion, which would be a disappointment, but at least it would be a start.
He continued. “We feel connected and close to your country, but the time has come to end the borrowing of these great sums. As you know, your debt to us is bordering on fifteen trillion dollars, and yes, you pay back with fair interest, but you are a bottomless pit and we no longer feel comfortable feeding it. There are other countries in the world that may feel more comfortable with such a large loan, but we do not. And we beg you not to take this personally. If any country came to us at this point in time and asked for three trillion dollars, we would be unable to accommodate them, so please, do not think this is just about you.”
Susanna had to laugh. As if any country other than the U.S. would ask China for three trillion dollars, and as if any other country but China could loan that kind of money. The United States already owed India a trillion dollars and had even borrowed five hundred billion from Indonesia in 2022. Without China, there was no one left.
Susanna really didn’t know what to say. She felt angry and would have lashed out if this was just an old-fashioned economic discussion, but it wasn’t. She was representing the United States as its Treasury secretary and she had to be careful not to antagonize what was slowly becoming an unpleasant situation. “So let me be clear, Mr. Vice Premier. Is the number too large, or is the whole idea of further lending now soured? What exactly is the issue?”
“I would say both.”
“Both? So China has made a decision to no longer be the lender of choice to the United States?”
“No, I would not say that. There are smaller amounts, a hundred billion here or a hundred billion there, where I am sure we could work something out. But for the amounts you are now talking about, I would say this is no longer viable.”
For the first time Susanna looked visibly shaken. Lanchoi smiled in sympathy. “Madame Secretary, I am not saying we cannot offer help, just not in this fashion.”
“Yes, I know what you said. You would be happy to offer more humanitarian assistance, but that is not what we are looking for.”
“I would think we would be willing to offer much more than that, but no longer in the same fashion. No longer gargantuan amounts of borrowed money.” Susanna laughed for a moment. To hear the Nextron pronounce “gargantuan” was funny, but she knew it was time to end the meeting.
“I thank you for your time. The President is anxious to know how things went today, so let me report back to him and we can discuss this at a future date.”
“Madame Secretary, please understand one of the points I am trying to make. We are interested in providing the help you are looking for, just not in the same unproductive ways.”
“I don’t understand you exactly. What do you mean?”
“I think for that discussion my premier and your president should sit down together. This is beyond my, as you people like to say, pay grade.”
“You’re asking for a presidential summit?”
“I am authorized to tell you we would be happy to sit down at our highest level if you would really like to hammer out this issue.”
“And how would we do that, Mr. Vice Premier?”
“In ways neither you nor I are authorized to talk about.”
Now Susanna was intrigued. She had no idea what he meant, but he was obviously saying that when borrowing went this high, the two bosses needed to talk. She actually thought Bernstein would be amenable to that—after all, what choice did he have? “I will pass this along to the President, and I thank