Bill Clinton: “I'm not in a position to know whether they can do that. What he said to me--and perhaps I should start with what I said…”

“I'm not in a position to know whether they can do that. What he said to me--and perhaps I should start with what I said to him. I said to him that the United States wanted to support the Japanese economic recovery and that we had a big stake in it, that our economy depended upon it, and that in a larger sense the whole Asia-Pacific region depended upon a Japanese economic recovery; but that no short-term efforts would work unless there was a serious, long-term, very comprehensive commitment to economic reform--nothing that Secretary Rubin and Mr. Summers haven't said repeatedly in other forums. He said to me that they were prepared to issue a statement which would be clear and specific about what they intended to do in a timely fashion. He did not say whether it would be before or just after the parliamentary elections, but he said he would not delay about it. Relations With China”