Japan overtook China as the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities at the end of 2009 after China sold $34.2 billion in American securities last December. China had previously surpassed Japan as the largest holder in September 2008. Since then, China has increased and reduced its holding from time to time. The latest amount, however, accounted for 4 percent of all Chinese holdings and was the biggest single month reduction in years. Some analysts attributed the reduction to intensifying bilateral trade disputes and political threats from the United States. Three scholars recently shared their views with Xinhua News Agency. Edited excerpts follow: