A second best at best

Comments on Yin-Wong Cheung, Guonan Ma and Robert N. McCauley “Why is China attempting to internationalise the renminbi?” 2/12/2011, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2011/12/02/why-does-china-attempt-to-internationalise-the-renminbi/

Leaving the real motivations of China's push for internationalisation of the RMB aside, there are alternatives to internationalisation of the RMB for avoiding or at least mitigating the potential huge losses for China associated with a rapid currency appreciation.

Beside considerations and argument based on the effects of RMB appreciation on both China's and indeed regional economies in terms of jobs and production of manufacturing, China could and should mount an argument to those parties that argue for a rapid appreciation that those countries must allow any assets China holds in any other currencies against which the RMB would appreciate to be denominated in dual currencies, that is, both their and China's currencies.
If any of them refuses to do that, it would be hypocrite of them by asking China to make a huge loss in terms of its assets holding in those other currencies.

However, one may suspect that internationalisation of the RMB might have other more important effects as the Chinese economy becomes even larger and transaction costs of international trade and FDI become more significant.