Asia unites in adversity<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Twelve Asian nations formed a sense of
\nunity through adversity during a three-day summit in Kuala
\nLumpur, Malaysia's host Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The annual summit of nine members of the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN), joined for the first time by
\nJapan, China and South Korea, ended with little concrete progress
\ntoward settling a financial crisis that sent several regional
\ncurrencies plunging to new lows through the day.<\/p>\n
But Mahathir felt the meeting had had some success.<\/p>\n
\"I'm a little bit optimistic now that a lot more people
\nunderstand the problem ... it was impressed on everyone that when
\nyou lose billions of dollars, you don't regain billions of
\ndollars just by marking time,\" he told a final news conference.<\/p>\n
The gathering of ASEAN members and the three Northeast Asian
\ncountries was the largest ever meeting of purely Asian leaders.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said there was a strong push for a similar meeting
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
\"There is a sense of unity, unity in adversity if you like,
\nbecause all of us are suffering from the same disease, probably
\nbeing caused by the same virus,\" he said.<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- all of which have
\nbeen hit to a some degree by the currency turmoil in the region.<\/p>\n
Asian markets yesterday shrugged off the summit, with analysts
\ndisparaging \"bland statements\".<\/p>\n
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has orchestrated a
\nbailout exceeding US$100 billion for the crumbling economies of
\nThailand, Indonesia and South Korea.<\/p>\n
Japan and China stressed their assistance to the region would
\ncome within the IMF framework. Japan, plagued with its own
\ndomestic financial problems, played down its position as an
\neconomic superpower -- Mahathir said Tokyo no longer saw itself
\nas the leading goose among the Asian geese.<\/p>\n
There was no offer of extra financial assistance from Tokyo,
\nwhich stressed what it saw as the importance of a pledge to train
\n20,000 young Asians.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto also vowed to prevent his own
\nnation's economic woes from sparking a world recession.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN leaders met alone Monday and issued a communique
\nsaying the IMF bailouts had so far failed to halt the slide in
\ncurrencies.<\/p>\n
They called on the United States, Japan and the European Union
\nto face up to the global dimension of the turmoil.<\/p>\n
In his closing news conference, Mahathir said ASEAN had made
\nno financial claims on the leading economies.<\/p>\n
\"They merely said that if they can do something about this,
\nplease do, that's all.\"<\/p>\n
Senior ASEAN officials said it was vital that major economic
\npowers should express confidence in the future of the Asian
\neconomies to help return stability to the region.<\/p>\n
Chinese President Jiang Zemin said China had no plans to
\ndevalue its currency and Chinese officials said Beijing would
\ncontinue to support the IMF rescue operations -- China is also in
\ndiscussions with Jakarta about aid for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, whose forceful comments have sometimes been blamed
\nfor adding to market turmoil in his country, said yesterday he
\nwould stop making remarks that hurt market sentiment.<\/p>\n
He said he had been advised to curb his comments against
\ncurrency traders and that there was a \"feeling of fear\" of
\nspeaking against the market.<\/p>\n
\"I sense a feeling of fear that if you say the wrong things it
\nwill affect the market, so don't say (it),\" he said.\"I accept
\nthat, I won't say anything.\"<\/p>\n
Asked about previous charges of a conspiracy against Southeast
\nAsian economies, he said: \"The economies of Southeast Asia used
\nto be vibrant and were described as miracle economies and all
\nthat. They're no longer miracles, they are no longer vibrant,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"That is the effect, whether there is a conspiracy or not, and
\nwhen you are up against forces that you can't fight against,
\nthere is little that you can do ... We have to accept that in
\nthis world there is no equality. Might is still right.\"<\/p>\n
Hashimoto -- Page 6<\/p>\n
Bailout -- Page 10<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asia-unites-in-adversity-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }