John Bolton: China Sees US on 'Path of Decline'

A harshly worded editorial by the official Chinese news agency called for a "de-Americanized world," and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton says he knows why they are upset.

The Xinua editorial published Sunday shows what's going on in minds of top Chinese officials, Bolton told Fox News Channel's "Your World."

China holds a large amount of U.S. debt, so the country is right to be worried about what is going to happen to its value.

Also, Bolton said, China is tired of being accused by the U.S. government of manipulating their currency when the the United States is doing same thing with quantitative easing, a form of electronic money-printing.

"I think the Chinese are fed up with that," Bolton said. "And let's face it, they'd love to bring the U.S. dollar down as the world's reserve currency."

The editorial suggested a new reserve currency "so that the international community could permanently stay away from the spillover of the intensifying domestic political turmoil in the United States.”

The Obama administration is seen as weak, Bolton said, and the budget and debt ceiling crisis in Washington is seen as proof "we've lost our way." China is watching Obama institute policies it knows from own experience are going to hobble America's economy, he said.

"They thought we understood how to keep the economy strong," Bolton said. "They see us heading on a path toward Europe – that is a path of decline, and they are going to try and take advantage of it."