Asian financial crisis and East Asian economic cooperation: A Chinese view∗

The Asian financial crisis has devastated East Asia in many aspects. While social unrest was witnessed in some states, social problems have arisen in others because of the reforms undertaken. States undergoing reforms are learning their lessons at a very expensive price. These are lessons essential and vital to the cause of regional cooperation. From a theoretical perspective, without these lessons, the debates on the need and importance of regional cooperation would have gone on incessantly without any real progress. Although expensive, once the crisis‐hit states succeeds in instituting the reforms attached to the financial package from international financial institution, the future prospects for regional economic cooperation are not too unfavorable. While China can afford to maintain its current position on the crisis, the rest has an obligation to fulfill its responsibility so as to lay a solid foundation for regional cooperation to ripen.