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To: Alex who wrote (12583)	6/4/1998 5:57:00 AM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116791

Malaysian leader warns of guerrilla war against globalisation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ by Kazuhiro Shimamura TOKYO, June 4 (AFP) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned here Thursday of a "kind of guerrilla war" against foreign firms which dominate deregulated Asian economies. As outsiders take control of national corporations, people in Asia will show their feelings in many ways, Mahathir told a meeting here, the International Conference on the Future of Asia. "Sooner or later they will think of regaining control over their economies," he warned. "They will regard this as a new war of liberation," the premier said, adding that "even if they want to avoid violence, violence must come as the new capitalists disregard the signs." "There will be no war of independence, of course. But there will be a kind of guerrilla war which will not be good for anyone." Mahathir conceded the scenario may not play out as he forecast. "Maybe this will not be the future of Asia. Maybe Asia will extricate itself from the present situation intact," the premier said. But "new capitalists" would be loath to miss the chance to "dominate the world and make lots of money in the process," he forecast, and only if their own countries restrained them would the world be peaceful and prosperous. Mahathir said capitalists had been let loose on the world by the defeat of communism and the International Monetary Fund had opened the door for them by forcing deregulation on Asian countries hit by the financial crisis. Instead of the rich exploiting the poor in the old capitalist world, today "it is the exploitation of poor countries worldwide which promises unlimited gains," he said. "Hence the push for deregulation and globalisation." New capitalists wanted to make billions of dollars overnight, Mahathir told the conference, and currency trading -- a bugbear of the Malaysian leader -- gave them the opportunity. "With trillions at their disposal they have become a force that no government of developing countries can go against. Control of the media enables them to shape public opinion, censor criticism and generally promote the legitimacy and wholesomeness of their concept of the new world order." There was no future for Asia that was "distinctly Asian," he said. "Asian countries will prosper again but not as Asian countries. Their economies would be dominated and run by the huge foreign corporations, practically all owned and managed by non-Asians." Answering questions from the audience, Mahathir said Indonesia, whose president Suharto stepped down May 21 in favour of B.J. Habibie after riots and demonstrations, was "very much in need of funds." IMF aid to the country was tied down with too many conditions, he complained. "The mere change of the government does not mean that anything can improve if other things that should accompany it are not there," he added. "We have to take the new government on trust." On nuclear tests, Mahathir said Malaysia's stance was clear. "We are against any nuclear weapons. Let's apply sanctions to all countries with nuclear weapons." news.stocksmart.com