Albright acknowledged in a speech that "in some countries the medicine of economic reform is bitter" and expressed particular concern about "the potential for social unrest" in Indonesia. She said Japan was central to efforts to fix Asia's financial woes and stressed the need for Tokyo's next prime minister, foreign minister Keizo Obuchi, to "stimulate their economy, deregulate and clean up the banking system."

Albright stopped in San Francisco en route to Manila to attend the annual meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. The protracted Asian financial crisis, which is increasingly spilling over into the US as well as other economies, will be "at the top of our agenda," shetold the International Diplomacy Council, which promotes discussion of foreign policy issues.

Fixing the problems at the heart of the crisis "requires that the old ways of doing business must change, inefficient firms close and cosy relationships break up," she said. While "consequences for workers and families caught in the middle can be difficult and unfair ... this does not change the fact that reform is medicine. If refused, the illness only grows worse. If taken, recovery becomes only a matter of time," Albright said. If the crisis continues, "the risk of long term harm to the global economy, and to our own prosperity, cannot be ignored," she said. Albright said the Asian crisis resulted from "bad economic habits in the countries involved and on the part of those who did business with them."