The US has excellent credit because, beginning with Alexander Hamilton, it has never ever cut a payment on debt no matter what crisis it thinks it faces. Treasury notes are as good as money because of this.

Keep in mind that debt is a liquid asset. If you were foolish enough to not pay out Chinese debt holders, they would simply sell to Americans. The notion of "lets not pay xyz" has spectacularly bad outcomes because it signals to the world that you are not a serious nation when it comes to debt.

In the long term, the US strategy has clearly paid off.