Interesting. I think we are interpreting that statement quite differently.
From my PoV, they designed an IL runtime based on how some people were using JavaScript, aka inspired by Asm.js, not an IL runtime for or based on JavaScript.
I did not read that statement as saying Wasm was or was intending to be faster JS, at least not generally. Of course you are correct in that Wasm has absolutely nothing to do with JS on a lower level.
From my PoV, they designed an IL runtime based on how some people were using JavaScript, aka inspired by Asm.js, not an IL runtime for or based on JavaScript.
I did not read that statement as saying Wasm was or was intending to be faster JS, at least not generally. Of course you are correct in that Wasm has absolutely nothing to do with JS on a lower level.