Crisis should make US do some soul-searching

China once again becomes the scapegoat for the ongoing global financial crisis. At a time when the US economic crisis continues to deteriorate, some American scholars claim the Asian nation should be held accountable for the once-in-a-century financial crisis.

Their groundless argument, however, was used by some politicians in Washington as a tool with which to shirk their own responsibilities. In an interview with the Financial Times on the eve of the end of his term, the former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson claimed the global financial crisis was partly caused by the high deposit ratio in emerging economies including China. He said such a financial policy had contributed to an aggravating imbalance in the global economy and emboldened US investors to buy high-risk properties.

It is completely a ridiculous conclusion both in time order and in causal relationship.