Asia needs U.S. to avoid crash

Asia needs U.S. to avoid crash

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines said yesterday that support
from the United States was vital if Asia was to avoid a
depression.

Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said a depression could spark
regional conflicts unless it received outside help.

"We don't want that scenario to recur here and this is why the
U.S. involvement is important because a major economy has to be
involved to ensure that we don't enter a major depression in Asia
and because of depression, we'll end up waging wars against each
other, a repeat of the pre-Second World War scenario in Europe,"
Siazon told a news conference.

He said the far-reaching impact of the Asian financial turmoil
would top the agenda of the meetings in Manila later this month
among the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and their allies.

Foreign ministers from the ASEAN states of Indonesia,
Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam,
Laos and Myanmar are to hold their annual meeting on July 24 -
July 25.