The markets take a beating. B.J. Habibie, the free-spending research and technology minister, is voted vice president. Suharto's daughter Tutut and golfing buddy Bob Hasan are named to the cabinet. Students stage demonstrations. MAY Security forces kill four students in Jakarta.
Riots erupt, with ethnic Chinese the chief targets.
Suharto resigns and Habibie takes over. Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia announce first-quarter GDP contractions. The yen falls below 140 to the dollar amid worries Tokyo is not doing enough to stimulate the economy. China warns that the yen's decline is affecting its trade and financing, sparking fears that Beijing may devalue the yuan. In Beijing, President Jiang Zemin assures his visiting American counterpart, Bill Clinton, that the yuan will hold the line.