The central bank of Taiwan said in a press release Wednesday that some foreign exchange banks have sold off a large amount of US dollars on the local currency market at specific times during trading sessions and subsequently have caused disorder and panic in market.

Rumors are rife that well-known investor George Soros has masterminded this wave of currency speculation after a large amount of US dollars flowed into Taiwan from Hong Kong through Citibank.

The central bank met with the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to discuss the cause of the speculation and asked it to ascertain who are among the beneficiaries of such speculation.

The new Taiwan dollar opened at 30.367 yesterday and gained as much as 1.287 during trading session, hitting a 13-year high against US dollar.

China's business press carried the story above on Friday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.