China hopes for diversification of the international currency system in the future, and it would be “normal” for the issue to be raised for discussion at next week’s G8 summit, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei (何亞非) said yesterday.
Speaking at a news briefing ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) attending a G8 summit in Italy next week, He said he was not aware of reports that China had requested a debate about global reserve currencies.
G8 sources said on Wednesday that Beijing had asked for a debate on proposals for a new global reserve currency at the G8 summit and the issue could be referred to briefly in the summit statement.
The news pushed down the greenback, which is particularly sensitive to comments from China because bankers estimate Beijing holds perhaps 70 percent of its US$1.95 trillion in official currency reserves in US dollars.
“I have not heard that China has this request,” He said in response to a reporter’s question about the matter.
But he also flagged that Beijing expected the issue to be discussed at the G8 meeting.
“This financial crisis has fully exposed some shortcomings in the international currency system,” He said. “Of course we hope that in the future the international currency system can diversify.
“I think this is an objective that the international community naturally wants to realize and as I just said, if in the meetings some leader raises this issue for discussion, that would be normal,” He said.
China’s central bank last week renewed its call for the creation of a super-sovereign reserve currency to reduce the dollar’s global domination, which it said had worsened the crisis.
Hu has not made any public statement about the idea for a new reserve currency.
The People’s Bank of China caused a stir with its suggestion, first made in March, that the IMF’s Special Drawing Right (SDR) could eventually displace the dollar as the principal reserve currency.
The SDR is an international reserve asset allocated to IMF members and its exchange rate is determined by a basket of dollars, euros, sterling and yen.
“At present the US dollar is the main reserve currency,” He said. “We of course hope the exchange rate of the main reserve currency maintains stability.”
Chinese officials have expressed growing concern in recent months that massive US fiscal and monetary stimulus will generate inflation and drive down the dollar, handing Beijing big losses on its vast portfolio of US bonds.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS