These currency reserves largely represent loans China issued abroad, which have been paid off (or are in the process of being served). Similar to Eurodollars in the past yielding outsized interest rates, increasing demand and thus dollar outflows, this shows a (perhaps?) unrecognized accumulation in China, which may very well either allow them to essentially print their own dollars or mean that they already have been, synthetically.
The article has an interesting premise, calling it a problem for China to have cash - because China is an adversary. I've not seen this stated so explicitly in normal business news before. Warning of the potential for it to be invested abroad in the B&R initiative really shows that the US is gearing up for great power competition again.
N.b. Brad Setser is perhaps the most insightful expert on debt and international monetary flows. He often speaks about African refinancing deals - or why they're nearly impossible to refinance, due to insane complexity.
The article has an interesting premise, calling it a problem for China to have cash - because China is an adversary. I've not seen this stated so explicitly in normal business news before. Warning of the potential for it to be invested abroad in the B&R initiative really shows that the US is gearing up for great power competition again.
N.b. Brad Setser is perhaps the most insightful expert on debt and international monetary flows. He often speaks about African refinancing deals - or why they're nearly impossible to refinance, due to insane complexity.