<Asia Watch> Taiwan plans HK$7.7 billion(US$1 B) regional bailout.
Voltaire:
This is not bad at all,considering Japan is coming up with $30 Billion for the region,soon this mess in Asia will be all over may be another 6-12 months.
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source:SCMP
Tuesday November 10 1998
Taipei plans $7.7b regional bailout
VIVIEN PIK-KWAN CHAN and Agencies
In a bid for broader support from Asia-Pacific leaders, Taiwan is expected to propose raising US$1 billion (HK$7.74 billion) for crisis-hit countries at an upcoming summit.
The move is mainly aimed at diluting the influence of Beijing's promise at International Monetary Fund meetings to contribute US$4.5 billion to help the likes of Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Russia.
Under the plan, Taiwan would provide US$250 million in the hope of soliciting support from other Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum members through bond obligations.
Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development, will attend next week's summit in Kuala Lumpur on behalf of President Lee Teng-hui .
Mr Chiang said the plan had the support of the United States, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank.
Beijing is likely to block the move to minimise Taiwan's role in multilateral organisations. Taiwan has speculated China may offer another US$4.5 billion package to help Apec members.
Sources in Beijing said the cash crisis, which started in Asia late last year and has spread to Russia, would top the summit agenda.
Apec finance ministers would hammer out possible joint measures to prevent further damage to the region's monetary systems and to revitalise economies.
Foreign Ministry officials said President Jiang Zemin would set out a blueprint for Asia's economic recovery at the summit.
Mr Jiang is expected to call for member economies to stabilise their currencies as China did with the yuan.
Measures drafted by the finance ministers will contribute to the leaders' declaration, to be announced after the unofficial summit.
Despite Beijing's hope of winning credit for not depreciating the yuan, it may encounter heated debate during sideline bilateral meetings with members over political and trade disputes.
The dispute with the Philippines over the Spratly Islands is expected to follow Mr Jiang through meetings with Spratly claimants, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Mr Jiang's talks with President Bill Clinton are expected to touch on the Dalai Lama's United States trip and that of US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to Taiwan.
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