ABSTRACT
The Asian crisis has been called the ‘first crisis of globalisation’. Debate about the key attributes of a so called ‘Asian capitalism’ can conceal the complexity of the quite different kinds of capitalism coexisting and interacting in the region. Explanations in terms of retribution for Asian sins is the less convincing in that the crisis has affected in quick succession economies operating in quite different ways and with quite different circumstances and weaknesses. The dangers of being tarred with the unpopularity of corrupt regimes in situations of economic or political crisis, and of transmitting this to the whole Chinese community, have become only too visible in Indonesia, when they were targeted by rioters. In Southeast Asia, as also among Chinese business communities in North America and Australasia and elsewhere, it represents the most common form of Chinese economic activity.
