I can't recall exactly where I read that, but it was probably either the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, or one of the weekly news magazines...a source no more exotic than that. It was within the last month.

As I recall the article, it explained that the Chinese had sold $64 billion of their holdings of U.S. debt on the open market (that is they sold the securities before their maturity). The net result was that they had reduced their holdings of U.S. debt, which was consistent with the statements they have been making for some time now. Our debt securities are denominated in U.S. Dollars, not any foreign currency.

The most recent figures available from the Treasury Department indeed show that China has reduced it's holdings of U.S. debt. So has Japan. At the same time, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia have increased their holdings of our bills and bonds.

The author was trying to track the funds flows and concluded that the U.S. might have ultimately been the buyer of our own debt, using "new borrowings" or an increase in the money supply (printed money) to fund the re-purchase.