There is something very awkward in the idea that still-poor Asia will help rescue the still-rich euro area. Asia remembers very well that when in trouble in the late 1990s, it was ruthlessly advised to turn to the International Monetary Fund.

Yet it may happen. Europe is bound by an extraordinary series of self-imposed constraints – no common taxation, no mutual guarantees, no monetary financing, to name the main ones – and European countries have now pledged to contribute to the IMF so that it can intervene in Europe. The desire for matching contributions from the rest of the world was unequivocally expressed by the European leaders on 9 December. The questions are: should Asia follow suit, and what would be the consequences?

Asia has two reasons to offer such support: to protect itself from Europe, and to protect itself from the US.