Unless the loan shark is the IMF, the ECB, and the EU, in which case it can park (financial) tanks outside the banks of the debtor country and threaten to rain financial death on it.<p>That&#x27;s unlikely to happen in China&#x27;s case - but we&#x27;re in novel territory politically and economically, so I think it&#x27;s impossible for anyone to guess how it will play out.