THE ASIAN CRISIS AND ITS INTERNATIONAL REPERCUSSIONS/23 5Herald Tribune, Kissinger said that the US was behaving as though it
intended to recolonise Asia. He warned against an overly arrogant
and aggressive approach, which could provoke an anti-American
backlash in the region. He wrote, 'We must ensure that economic
realities do not provoke a wave of nationalism and perhaps anti-
Americanism, which would mean that the cure is worse than the
illness'; adding: 'We should avoid using this opportunity to recolonise
Korea.' Kissinger may well be on to something.
Other American Points of View
In the 12 January 1998 edition of the International Herald Tribune,
David Hitchcock, a former US diplomat with considerable experience
in East Asia, wrote: 'For the moment, Asians seem to be blaming their
own leaders, bankers and businessmen. But if harsh economic
measures lead to further bankruptcies and layoffs, their anger might
cross the Pacific'
Finally, in the 16 January 1998 edition of the International Herald
Tribune, the number two Democrat in the US House of
Representatives, David Bonior, criticised the IMF rescue package. 'We
must provide aid. But this aid should not be a rescue package for
bankers, speculators and repressive dictators [sicl]. We cannot
support a rescue package that strangles working people, ignores the
causes of instability and then asks the American taxpayer to foot the
bill.' He said that the US contribution to the IMF package should go
towards expanding democratic rights, increasing salaries and
improving Asian living conditions.
In all respects, the US has strengthened its position as a result of the
crisis. The various aforementioned warnings will probably have little
impact on US policy and on that of the IMF, which the US controls.
The US government and American businesspeople clearly feel they
have more to gain than to lose by taking their economic and political
offensive as far as possible. They want to expand their presence qual
itatively in the Asia-Pacific region, at the expense of Japanese
imperialism and of those countries subject to IMF conditions -
primarily South Korea and Indonesia. Countries such as the
Philippines, Thailand, even Vietnam, are already under US control to
all intents and purposes.