A debt alarm bell for Xi

Beijing did not choose February 2019 for the moment when its great wall of IOUs became a flashpoint. But, sooner or later, a decade of fighting financial gravity, by means of epic debt issuance, catches up in any industrializing economy -- even China.

Two missed corporate payments this month dramatize the costs of that decision. Last year's 60% surge in insolvencies and a record $18 billion of defaults, up from $4 billion in 2017, point to a deepening credit crunch at a moment of maximum geopolitical peril. It will test President Xi Jinping's multitasking skills as never before.