At last year’s APEC Leaders Meeting in Vancouver, many shuddered at President Bill Clinton’s soundbite that the Asian financial crisis was only a “glitch in the road.” His statement may have been calculated to soothe the markets (it didn’t work); it didn’t reveal the serious concern expressed behind closed doors on the worrisome events underfoot. […]

The prospects of an increase in energy demand in the Asia-Pacific region, combined with the perceived need for energy security or self-sufficiency, have driven many countries to develop or at least contemplate the use of nuclear energy. This increased peaceful use of nuclear energy brings with it rising safety and non-proliferation concerns. Moreover, Asia-Pacific international […]

The Asian economic crisis started, almost suddenly, when Thailand experienced trouble in maintaining its currency exchange rate on July 2, 1997. Since then it has spread like wildfire to other nations and regions in Southeast and Northeast Asia, with South Korea and Japan being sucked into it toward the end of the year. This continuing […]

Reduced rates of economic growth are likely to be a fact of life in China for the next few years, and slow growth could produce an increase in already high levels of social discontent which could result in political instability. For the next few years, the leadership will attempt to implement the structural reforms necessary […]

The upcoming visit of the chairman of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation, Koo Chen-fu, to mainland China on October 14-19 marks the long-overdue resumption of high-level cross-straits dialogue between the SEF and Beijing’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), headed by Wang Daohan.

The time has come for the Clinton Administration to step back and seriously reappraise its policy towards North Korea. In light of recent serious events on the peninsula, including the Taepo Dong missile launch and the revelation of a suspected underground nuclear weapons facility, it is evident that the Clinton Administration’s current policies to engage […]

This Administration, working closely with our allies in the region, the Republic of Korea and Japan, along with Congress, over the past five years has hammered out a policy that seeks to address the perplexing and difficult problems we face with North Korea — including holding North Korean nuclear activities in check and curtailing its […]

As the world’s economic leaders prepare to gather next week for the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington, D.C., all eyes scan the global economy for new surprises and perils. As countries wage old and new battles against jittery international investors, economic sages are sharpening their intellectual weapons debating the […]

The visit next week of Japan’s new prime minister will provide a good opportunity to review the key issues – the Asian financial crisis, North Korean missile capabilities and the U.S.-Japan security system – facing the two leaders. More important, it will also provide a chance to right the balance in our East Asian policy, […]

On Aug. 6, after months of debate and calculation, the Executive Council of the National Economic Action Council headed by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (which is in charge of the crisis management of the economy) made a tough decision. The five members unanimously decided to adopt the Chinese model of currency convertibility and instructed […]