not only that, If I'm a Chinaman, and I buy a US bond, the last thing I want is for USA to decline. It makes me worried about getting my money back.Japan and china combined hold a modest amount of U.S. debt , very roughly about 7% each. The largest holder by far is the Social Security Administration. Very roughly 65% of U.S. debt is held internally and the remainder, ~35%, externally. The lead article is yet another fine example of idiot, yellow journalism.