Zuckerberg warned in his latest congressional testimony that America’s global financial dominance could be eroded if China got there first with its state-backed cryptocurrency. In August, the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, said a launch was coming.

The Chinese digital currency will function like cash in circulation, technically called M0, rather than M2, which can generate credit and impact monetary policy. A key goal is to support the circulation and internationalisation of the yuan. It will work through institutions such as Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Alipay, operated by Alibaba, the parent company of the South China Morning Post. That should be welcome news, as Tencent has admitted Libra, if successful, could challenge popular Chinese payment systems like WeChat Pay.

Zuckerberg claimed Libra would be pegged mostly to US dollars and so would help extend America’s global financial leadership and spread democratic values and transparency. He hinted darkly that China did not share those values. His claims are transparently self-serving. But given the rising anti-China sentiments in Washington across political classes, they may yet work.