The loans (8 trillion?) we take out, our nat'l deficit, uses federal property as collateral. has since 1913 when the fed reserve made the US a corporation. These large worldwide banks who have lent the trillions haven't collected yet, because to do so would disrupt the productivity of our nation. But should there ever be a financial collapse in the US, where they're no longer earning, these banks (Swiss, Israeli, American, and yes, even Chinese) have the rights to begin seizing federal property as their own. Imagine a Chinese city of mnfg. firms being built in Yellowstone National park. Insourcing at its finest!
Research it.
Your are right about foreign ownership of some of the Debt, but most of the US debt is actually American owned and almost every country on Earth has some form of Debt. But you are right to be concerned. There are no plans to reduce the debt and instead people are focusing on tax reduction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._public_debtConsequences of foreign ownership of U.S. debt
U.S. Treasury statistics indicate that, at the end of 2004, foreigners held 44% of federal debt held by the public. [12] About 64% of that 44% was held by the central banks of other countries. A large portion was held by the central banks of Japan and China, although, most was held by members of the EU. This exposes the United States to potential financial or political risk that either banks will stop buying Treasury securities or start selling them heavily. In fact, the debt held by Japan reached a maximum in August of 2004 and has fallen nearly 3% since then. [13]
On 3 August 2006, Italy's central bank announced that it would sell off a large portion of its dollar holdings (including US Treasury bonds) and instead shift to British Pound Sterling. The reason Italy gave for doing out of fear of an "expected slide in the dollar." Russia, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates had announced similar shifts out of the dollar into other currencies and gold earlier and cited the United States's "twin deficits" (i.e. the US trade deficit as well as its budget deficit) as the reason for the expected fall in the dollar's value.[14]