The White House has called for an end to the political bickering cited as a reason for the first-ever US credit rating downgrade. In a statement, White House spokesman Jay Carney reacted to the downgrade by calling for unity, following the acrimoniousmonths-long partisan battle to secure a deal on raising the US debt ceiling and slashing the deficit, which rattled world markets. Mr Carney said President Barack Obama would strongly encourage Democratic and Republican politicians to put their common commitment to a stronger recovery and a sounder long-term fiscal path above political and ideological differences. Washington's allies in Europe and Asiarallied behind it, warning against overreaction to the downgrade, but China, the largest foreign holder of US treasuries, slammed US addiction to debt. China yesterday said in an English-language commentary carried by the official Xinhua news agency that it had every right to demand Washington address its structural debt problems and safeguard Chinese dollar assets.Standard & Poor's cut the US rating for the first time in history on Friday, saying US politicians were increasingly unable to handle the country's huge fiscal deficit and debt load.