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The LFB writes at Seeking Alpha:

Our new president committed a serious gaffe last week by allowing his nominee for Treasury Secretary to say the Obama Administration "believes that China is manipulating its currency."

What makes it so unnerving for investors is talk of unfair currency exchange rates is seen as a protectionist measure, the threat of which would be enormously damaging to the global economy at this time. That protectionist measures during the Great Depression seriously worsened the situation is economic dogma.

Chinese officials reacted somewhat angrily to the charge, saying Friday that Beijing “has never used so-called currency manipulation to gain benefits in its international trade,” in a statement released by China’s commerce ministry. “Directing unsubstantiated criticism at China on the exchange-rate issue will only help US protectionism and will not help towards a real solution to the issue,” the statement went on to say.

What makes the timing even worse is that China has become the biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt, second only to the U.S. government itself in overall holdings. The latest figures from the Treasury Department show that for the three months to November, China increased its purchases by 16.1% to $681.9 billion and by 48.6% for the year till then.