World leaders prepared to adopt an early warning system for financial calamities, a commitment to tougher accounting rules and other modest steps to try to prevent crises like the one now threatening the livelihoods of billions of people around the globe.
Nearly two dozen leaders dined in extravagance at the White House on Friday in a prelude to negotiations yesterday over how best to wrestle global economies back from the brink of economic disaster.
The leaders were on track to approve measures to make the world financial system more accountable to investors and more transparent to regulators, said diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. To do so, the leaders were expected to endorse more effective accounting rules governing how companies value their assets, a weakness seen as partly responsible for the current financial crisis.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
A new early warning system would look for signs of burgeoning problems like those in the US housing market and related overuse of mortgage-backed securities. On Friday, the heads of the IMF, the world’s financial firefighter, and the Financial Stability Forum, a group that includes central banks and major financial regulators, said they would cooperate on “early warning exercises” to detect vulnerabilities.
Bush gave Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a less than warm welcome at the White House dinner amid controversy over a leaked conversation between them, a report said yesterday.
Bush “appeared somewhat standoffish” as he greeted Rudd, the Australian Associated Press reported from Washington.
At the heart of the controversy is a claim in an Australian newspaper last month that Bush displayed embarrassing ignorance by asking Rudd in a telephone call about the crisis: “What’s the G20?”
The allegation has been denied by both Canberra and Washington.
“While other world leaders got big smiles and pats on the back from Mr. Bush, the Australian prime minister had to make do with a brief handshake and a relatively stony face from the president as the pair posed for photographers and TV crews,” the report said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
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