Eva Cheng

  • Beijing plans mass sackings in wake of Asian crash

    At Chinese Communist Party congress in September — the first formal occasion since Deng Xiaoping's death on which China's state, military and CP chief Jiang Zemin could show the world that he was really in charge — Jiang announced

  • US increases pressure on Suharto

    In response to Indonesian President Suharto's attempts to backtrack from the promises which he gave the International Monetary Fund in exchange for US$43 billion in emergency credit lines, the US establishment has stepped up the

  • MAI: multinationals' 'bill of rights'

    "We will oppose any and all measures to create or even imply binding obligations for governments or businesses related to the environment or labour." So warned the US Council for International Business — the US big business club —

  • Japan under pressure to ease Asian crisis

    Six of the most powerful countries — the US, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy — put more pressure on Japan to take concrete steps to ease Asia's economic crisis when they met on February 21 under the auspices of the Group

  • Hong Kong democracy activist fined

    Hong Kong democracy activist finedVeteran pro-democracy activist Leung Kwok-Hung was fined by a Hong Kong magistrate on February 17 and given a "good behaviour" order for six months for protesting last July 16 against the

  • South Korean workers reject austerity

    In an affirmation of grassroots democracy, a majority of member unions of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on February 9-10 voted down an agreement which their leadership had tentatively entered into with the bosses and

  • Asian crisis: powers seek to cobble together a remedy

    Asian crisis: powers seek to cobble together a remedyIn mid-January, when Asia's economic crisis took a new turn for the worse, Washington sent an urgent call to invite key imperialist countries to meet in February on

  • Indonesia's economy in free-fall

    Indonesia's economy in free-fallOn January 22, banks in Indonesia demanded a massive 16,750 rupiahs for every US dollar they put on offer, but paid only 11,000 rupiahs for each dollar sold to them. The banks created the 5750 gap

  • South Korean workers fight jobs threat

    South Korean workers fight jobs threatSeizing on the current economic crisis, South Korean bosses succeeded in pushing through the National Assembly on January 12 a new labour law that further erodes working conditions and makes

  • South Korea: another Asian economy in trouble

    South Korea: another Asian economy in troubleSeoul's November 21 call for assistance from the International Monetary Fund is the latest sign that the South Korean economy, the 11th biggest in the world, is in deep trouble.

  • 'Asian miracle': has the bubble finally burst?

    Asia's export growth plunged across the board last year, hitting also the so-called "tiger" economies. Advocates of the "Asian miracle" theory claimed the causes were short term, and played down any structural problems. Then, early in

  • Asian currency crisis: rescuing the rich

    Massive, dumping of the Thai baht, Philippine peso, Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit have forced these countries to float their currencies, ending their link with US dollars and slashing their purchasing power by 20-50%. Prices