Quote:
Originally Posted by RN7
It would probably lead to an end to US-Chinese trade and the collapse of the Chinese economy.
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...and the collapse of the U.S. economy. China is our #1 or #2 trading partner (Mexico being the other, IIRC). We owe them hundreds of billions of dollars and they own a lot of U.S. treasury bonds and that sort of thing. If they were to call in these outstanding debts, the U.S. economy would be ruined. They don't do this precisely because we are their #1 customer and that would be self-destructive from their economic POV. But to suggest that we would refuse to trade with them over missile sales? We simply can't afford that sort of gesture.