Alms From China

[The New York Times]
Editorial

As soon as European leaders agreed on yet another plan to stabilize their finances, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was on the phone to his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to persuade him to invest in the rescue. Klaus Regling, head of the new financial bailout fund for the euro zone, went to Asia to drum up support.
China has $3 trillion-plus in foreign exchange reserves, about a quarter invested in European bonds.
But it is not only unseemly for wealthy Europeans to be looking for alms from China, it is bad policy. Beijing would undoubtedly try to use its financial leverage to silence European criticism of its cheap currency or its abysmal human rights record. That is too high of a price to pay.
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