From Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, the Empire State Building lit up red and yellow to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

In the press, in the form of protest, a great uproar has risen against this exhibition of approval towards the nation. These protestors are right to challenge the symbol of approval, but for the wrong reason: they fail to see that the lights were an economically practical action, and necessary for the future financial security of the United States.

The primary reason for the protests is that the lighting on the Empire State Building legitimates Mao Zedong’s bloody uprising and dictatorial rule over China. The man’s very reign went against everything the average American believes in—the free press, the free market, democracy and not killing an estimated 40 million people.

Indeed, the colors seem to represent complete forgiveness for the plethora of human rights violations and executions that were instrumental in the development of the People’s Republic of China, not to mention Tibet’s current enslavement.

But why is this all forgiven so easily? According to the United States Treasury Department, the United States owes China $800 billion as of July 2009. When the president and Congress propose new bills, like the bailout earlier this year and the current healthcare debacle, they are essentially conjuring money out of the ether, calling on funds that do not exist.

Or, at least, those funds would cease to exist should the United States fall into poor grace with its creditors, the largest being China. In short, good relations with China are of utmost importance in America’s struggle to stay afloat financially.

Think of it like dodging rent. You are strapped for cash and owe three months of rent. But your landlord is an old lady with a fondness for rabbits. So, when her birthday comes around, you give her a cheap little porcelain bunny rabbit. She has a nice birthday, and you get to slide on rent for the next couple months. The Empire State lights are America’s porcelain bunny to China. We pay little to nothing, but the sentimental value gets us billions in return.

Demonstrators should not be protesting against China. Human rights violations and the deaths of millions of innocent people are horrible things, meaning that we should be able to speak out against them, but doing so currently is not economically viable due to the superfluous spending habits of our nation. China owns a huge piece of us, and we need them to stay interested if we want to keep throwing money away indefinitely.

Let’s return to the rental example. If you’re months in debt, you don’t buy yourself a plasma screen television. You don’t even buy brand name groceries, unless you’re a very foolish person.

Right now, the United States is a foolish debtor. Health care reform, bailouts, clean energy and other government spending may all be well and good—though many of them are foolish in and of themselves—but America cannot handle that sort of financial load right now. We continue to spend, against all reason, and our foreign creditors are only going to accept so many porcelain bunnies.

If you want to challenge a government, challenge your own. To speak out against the immeasurable blood on China’s hands, you must speak out against your government’s debt to China. To speak out against your government’s debt to China, you must speak out against the reasons for your government’s debt.

Only when America has again become an independent, debt-free nation can it be financially safe to criticize or condemn other governments. The way the news is looking as of late, that won’t happen until the next administration is elected. Or, perhaps, it won’t happen at all.