China doesn't own anywhere near half of our treasury debt. IIRC, they own about 5% of our total treasury debt. My take on this incident is that we know North Korea's nuclear test failed and we're not that concerned about North Korea. After all, Clinton gave them the reactors and so we know exactly what kind of technology is required to convert the plutonium in those reactors to weapons-grade material. We know whether NK has that kind of capability, and of course there are all kinds of seismic sensors in South Korea used to analyze the underground blast. The Russians have good reasons for saying the test succeeded, even though they too know that it failed.
"China doesn't own anywhere near half of our treasury debt. IIRC, they own about 5% of our total treasury debt."
If true, even %5 is too much. We shouldn't owe anyone a dime!