World News

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1998 Associated Press

Gore offers bigger bailout but angers Malaysian host

Vice president's praise for anti-Mahathir protesters termed `disgusting' and wrong by trade minister

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
Associated Press

   KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -Vice President Al Gore on Monday cheered beleaguered Asian nations with offers of new financial support, but angered his Malaysian hosts by praising the country's anti-government protesters.
   Gore, serving as a last-minute fill-in for President Clinton at this year's 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, announced a new $10 billion support package for troubled Asian countries. Half the money will come from the United States and the other half from Japan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
   "This much is clear - just as the global financial crisis started here in Asia, the global economic recovery can and must start in Asia as well," Gore told business leaders and officials at a dinner on the eve of the two-day meeting.
   With Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad sitting at the head table, Gore used part of his speech to praise Malaysia's growing protest movement, which has taken "reformasi," the Malay word for reform, as its battle cry.
   "Among so many countries suffering economic crisis, we continue to hear calls for democracy and reform in many languages - people power, doi moi, reformasi," Gore said. "We hear them today - right here, right now - among the brave people of Malaysia."
   Doi moi is the Vietnamese word for reform.
   Mahathir showed no response to the comments and afterward shook Gore's hand as the vice president left the ballroom.
   But Mahathir's trade minister, Rafidah Aziz, told reporters, "It's the most disgusting speech I've ever heard in my life." She said it was wrong to "run down a country and incite things."
   Gore was sent to Malaysia after Clinton decided to forgo the trip to deal with the Iraqi standoff.
   Clinton did issue a statement with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi announcing a new joint initiative that would funnel money to troubled Asian banks to allow them to shore up depleted reserves and resume lending to companies.
   The additional $5 billion in U.S. direct support represents $1 billion each in new loans to Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea, the nations hit hardest by the crisis, and $2 billion in new support from two U.S. lending agencies, the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corp.
   

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