China will not offer free lunch to put an end to the eurozone's sovereign debt and the fundamental responsibility for overcoming the crisis must and will rest with the Europeans themselves, according to an editorial piece in the Financial Times on Sept 14, 2011.

Although the Bric countries – Brazil, China, India and Russia – fear that Europe's troubles may soon spread across the oceans and destabilize their economies and financial systems, their support to the eurozone, especially that of China, will be at a price, said the editorial.

It is in the interest of China, as the holder of the world's largest foreign reserves, to maintain the eurozone's stability, it noted. Actually, the euro has been viewed from its launch in 1999 as a potential long-term counterweight to the dollar. China, though heavily invested in US government debt, is alarmed at "what it sees as fiscal debauchery in Washington, and frustrated at the party political rancor that has impeded efforts to return the public finances to order." All this makes it possible that "China will buy limited amounts of European sovereign debt in a bid to lift market sentiment in favor of the euro and earn international political credit for itself."

But China does not offerfree lunches, and Europe has no right to expect any, concludes the piece. "Beijing is already linking support for the eurozone to official European recognition of China as a market economy. China is also making the point that the Europeans need urgently to get their act together by mastering the debt crisis and reforming their economies. It is a message that is hard to disagree with."