China gives US lecture on its world fiscal duties Chinese bloggers demand US payback Americans are not the only ones taking to social media with opinions on the US government shutdown, here is what Chinese netizens have to say. PT1M44S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2v6uc 620 349 October 9, 2013 - 6:44AM China delivered a stern lecture to the US on Monday to live up to its responsibilities as the cornerstone of the world's economy and to keep the government shutdown from spilling over into global markets. Beijing demanded US President Barack Obama take "concrete measures" to ensure the US did not default on its debts. "Safeguarding the debt is of vital importance to the economy of the US and the world," China's vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao said. This is the United States' responsibility. "Of utmost importance to all of us": Vladimir Putin (right), with Tony Abbott and Chile's President Sebastian Pinera at the APEC Summit. The warning came as the US neared the October 17 deadline by which Congress must vote to lift the "debt ceiling," the legal amount of money the country could borrow. If the limit was not raised, the US could default on its loans for the first time in history. Yet, despite dire warnings from economists and the entreaties of foreign governments, Democrats and Republicans stayed gridlocked and the US government closed for a seventh consecutive day. At the Asic Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Bali, which Mr Obama decided not to attend because of the crisis in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry was forced to push back against the sense that Mr Obama's absence had left a vacuum. "I want to emphasise that there is nothing that will shake the commitment of the rebalance to Asia that President Obama is leading," Mr Kerry told a business forum. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he understood that Mr Obama had had no choice but to cancel his trip to Asia, but also issued a reminder about how much was at stake as the politicking continued in Washington. "The US dollar is still the biggest reserve currency in the world, so it is of utmost importance to all of us," he said. The White House says it will not be held to ransom over something as fundamental as the "full faith and credit" of the US. Behind the scenes, US Treasury officials admitted the shutdown was a growing source of embarrassment, weakening US credibility when it came to urging China and the European Union to make financial reforms.