Show 1MIttjTA1474: - a7r 14 e A - — " :4g" """” : 044 e ' : 7— - nr77"t - ' "" - ' '"' 4JW - Bush's 7ribitur 4aturflas 'China-Specifi- Policy ayTravesty c' -r 41111 David Broder 50i 111 ton alt ef 1 Slight Political Change in Japan 'Not Particularly Good for US The old guard success N in Japan's somewhat irhimientary orprising even for a traditionally cau'11H1 nation A year of political unrest rparently had weakened the Liberal tiemocratic Party's grip on the ot ernment yet voters last weekend let the conservatives hang on to their maortty with 275 of the 512 seats in the powerful lower house of the Diet Even so the AM' has lost strength portending added tension in U S Japan elf111011 was 34-ye- 7folations Japanese voters it turns out were more skeptical of the opposition than pleased with the party in power The LDP had several strikes against it including the fall from grace of two prime ministers and scores of Cabinet members the past two years and an in teasingly unpopular platform Sex and influem epeddling scandals pushed the prune ministers from office and fueled public dissatisfaction over LDP trade policies and a rlf' consumption tax causing conservanv es to lose control Of the National Diet's upper house last urnmer Put LDP candidates also had enough going for them to weather voter discontent The party has presided over a period of peace and prosperity that elevated Japan to the top of the global market It v‘as organized experienced in a position to promise local political favors and able to delay the election until after voter anger had cooled Meanwhile the leftist opposition coalition led by the Socialist Party eouldn I offer a proven track record and clear enoagh plan of action to win suf well-finance- d 1 ficient popular support to take over the government Nevertheless the Socialists as well as larger numbers of women and young politicians won enough additional seats in the lower house to foreshadow future change The Socialists now hold nearly half as many saats as the LDP there Since last summer's upper house victory the opposition already has been able to affect the outcome of certain issues Now they'll wield even greater power in forcing concessions from the LDP and they could prove effective enough to convince voters who earlier expressed an eagerness for change of their potential for responsible leadership Such a shift may not be in the best interests of the United States U S officials have demanded easier American access to Japanese markets and Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney wants greater Japanese financial support for US military personnel stationed in Japan Yet the LDP made protectionist promises to win farmers' votes during the campaign and the Sosecialists have opposed the curity treaty and fought Washington's trade demands American priorities then face more resistance than usual nOW that Japans power base has been diffused To succeed as traders and brokers of world peace Japan and the United States must cooperate as well as compete Increased contention could put the two countries at an economic disadvantage globally as Europeans develop a more cohesive strategy for stabilizing arid strengthening their region US-Japa- n Schools Not Under Siege strange if not scary things happened on the way to Utah's looming teachers' strike the past few weeks First came reports that some teachers intended to make life miserable for their substitutes if a strike occurred Lesson plans and record books were to be locked up and students were told hateter they did in the regular teacher s absence wouldn I be reflected on their grades As if students needed any encouragement to give substitute teachers a bad time then some of their regular teachers provided it Aside from using students to achieve their aims such teachers taught their pupils an unacceptable lesson about proper conduct Inviting students to misbehave for one adult is inviting them to mistreat or disrespect other s including the regular teacher future employers and government officials There was nothing to gain from any obstitittes difficulties No one preumed that the Nehoo L could carrv on for long vithout the refular teachers l'1ans to use substitutes were merely rno district' attempt to deal with the emergency Another shabb shoAing sAas the edict in Salt Lake City School District that all inquiries pass through the ilistrict superintendent The rationale arrordiru to Superin!tndent John BoriniOn vas that the adTinistration should speak Aith One mo'r rhf effect pr41-111- princi- in their atreprrterc empt to gather and disemmate neAs ifl(1 The superintenA ikl !7ii j not akkas a“Jilable fru-trat- strike: under what circumstances classes would be held and whether enough substitute teachers would be on hand to conduct those classes Occasionally they asked for information about teacher or substitute salaries — public information readily available under normal circumstances Circumstances were not so abnormal the last few weeks to suddenly render professional educators mute Supt Bennion was not the only person capable of a answering simple straightforward questions about local school policy or plans In fact by gagging his top administrators and assuming full responsibility for responding to such routine inquiries the superintendent undoubtedly dicerted his attention from matters requiring careful decisions (in rare occasions it may make sense to refer questions about complex or sensitiv e policy issues to the highest source in a school district Ordinarily however principals and other educators should be able to competently handle news reporters on their own Salt Lake City District s overly strict information control of late not only exaggerated the seriousness of the situation but insulted the intelligence of the average school administrator and confounded attempts to keep local residents informed aboul their puhlir schools It conveyed an irrational siegf mentality' that should be tempered in future thf uere Ntintql Alia! school (f that Aa For the most part reporters wanted to know how the schools would react to -I effntl: And A thcir threat their tudent support trwil jot) action dpla:ed a caprtriou ri unw orth! of their profession et -- tin g l a poor example ciimment i'L)r ho tried fir charg Old-Tim- Washington Post Service WASHINGTON — For the moment U S China relations are off the public's mind When President Bush told a news conference -on Lincoln's Birthday that he was disturbed authonties had just news that Beijing raised new barriers to students coming to the United States the Washington Post did not ev en bother to report the comment But this is an issue that will not go away What happens in that nation of one billion people is far too important to ignore for long And George Bush made China policy a partisan domestic political issue when he rounded up enough Republican senators in January to sustain his veto of a bill providing extended stays in the United States for 40000 Chinese ' v It'Pl J'i dan in Georgie Anne 1 II t') Arwl(i hac ''0(1 t in ()f 7 t!! r Jp 1 state's toothless statute contains explicit provisions on copying The study published in the fall edition of Newspaper Research Journal shows Utah striking out on nine of the 10 minor provisions as well as on all fite key provisions — words defined in term of custody- exemptions to disclosure an perm sitf: diclosable portion for segregating disclosable from information provision for timely agency response — — no fees — within 10 days) Surprisingly Utah s fading mark on open records stands alongside the studyi conclu sion that this is one of It moralistic states n(qtrnally expected to grant the public broad14r access right Arcording tu Indiana University author Pritchard and Neil Nemeth Utah and her Western state — including California )ttegon Idaho Montana and Wahington — hire a moralistie culture that promotes the :ttatest good for the greatest number with pfitics Of'n & a noble actit it from which the 71' t rrrCfr In ' :7 - ' r ! (1(0) f out 'her Inder-tanmato-roA- f l!forAa!e and fan ( - In in AA' H ! I ' !'rt ( '9iPr '1 i to to it b- people 'he most energeroup on could meet tie ere no! alA hked sa :neir irflArLation to !'ar ri2lit t' )qj tli 17!'rnd H! r I th( r)rrespondent rn ocrentric individuals fo: !1:- r drrhi most often alone Into another society rld often to love confusion they fUltlirf peo' rorrew:An' tr: : II) uro1 a !rl' - - ji to Firtit)1: roof But thoo t m J h ' 'let correspondent erfoinr f Jri f ' Aa (Lj' nod- rr: ft f1 f'“'t- )nr toy! H2-nd- ar : c'r f)'14 learn to on m:Ir otr1-r- '11:11 4 '4 il li i - t ' A ' I s 11 4 If ok'':1t r 48 6 - vo " - k i ' ' ' : - ' )793'41 "! ! f JO ' r A ' ow 'ill Air IVO' II 1 :U ' e' c:: i- - e: 4 41 1111 ! 11' letogoo !''''' i' p 1 1 ''' ) Oe 1 (1 rill '' 6 aCt 41 4 t I k Or ' 1' -- "42a1Pigir e - 1 Zs!'-': - l'''°i141741::1'-- ' iVV'stCo:1 sI e lent our moral support and said There forces like assistance to the Solidarity challenging the Communist regimes In China we are not betting on demonstrators in the streets apparently because we doubt those urban workers and students really have mass support in the rural peasantry Instead we are betting on elements in the current leadership we hope will someday pursue policies of economic reform We are gambling in other words on being able to influence the internal power struggle over the succession to the aged Deng Xiaoping on the grounds as Eagleburger put it that the process of change in China so far has largely been led from the top" That makes sense to many China experts from past Democratic as well as Republican administrations with whom Isve talked But it has huge risks Eagleburger conceded that we have limited- - influence on the power struggles within the Belling hierarchy Others including former Ambassador to China Winston Lord argue that we are squandering whatet er influence we may have Clearly we are not making points with the students v ho represent China's future he said and I dont think we strengthen the reformers within the current Ir 5 doio :14" s suggesting that China s leaders ing a repression txithoot their relationship with the United leadership) by can continue price" in Slates The other key point that emerged from the questioning is that the administration wishes to present its pohry as to use Eagleburger's phrase That goes beyond a historical appreciation of China's recurrent tendency to take two steps forward and then one step back" in its relationship vk ith the out side ioorld something even such critics as Lord acknowledge Eagleburger insisted that it also means the leaders of the Kremlin or any other rulers should not think we'd be as tolerant of their running tanks over their own people as we've been of the Chinese And that is too much for most people to sik allow Sarhanes called it -- schizophrenicKerry said there was a "doublestandard- - in our Eastern European arid Chinese policies Eagleburger protested hut that is exactl y what it is After hearing him struggle I doubt that anyone can explain ti the people ihy we cheered on the demonstrators in Gdansk and Dresden Prague arid Bucharest — but chose to toast the rulers vho crushed the st udents in Beijing "China-specific- 1 " Law Has No Teeth The results of the Indiana study suggest link between that despite a Utah's political culture and political participation the influences don't extend to the tools of participation and accountahihty such as easily accessible public records In short although Utahns may talk up a storm about good government the law isn't about to It the public find out through official documents IA hat is actually going on The two former journalists Pritchard and Nemeth suggest it may be that some states with moralistic political coltures have relatively e a k public records lat s either because there has been no great demand for government information in those stales or because such information i freely granted In the light of Utah s onepartv monopoly control and the grtiv mg cult of secrecy in t tah political scientists such as PAT's David Magleby dispute the last point jahns need all the public affairs mita manor' they can gel 'Utley are not akays odfing it f Tom a decreas mg number of Journalists and a ertAking number of public relations officials -Too often the prP lai ri examinin the misdeeds and abuses of pteAfq associated it h the monopoly 0' poi) er Mr Magleby charges A weak public rer'ords la dit4Ha not help support an aggressive media For a rumber of tears the i tali Chapter of the Stwitly E'rf 'rril JuurnahMa and other goo goo lgorpd government orgaraza lions have been reluctant to Qo to the Legislature for tougher opererecords laws fearful the politicians 1ttiold make matter worse in stead tttri Th in(fialm tud confirms the situatiob car t get much vorse Cleark fah s publicrecords !al& needs some th Lu compliment all the gumming on tooItto that d morahs tate rwrIPPIlv patii(' e4 de4 the appropriate statutes interject themeke ho'A fr : 1 s Wisconsin scores the highest for genuine public access to gosernment records — a hopping 15 The mean score for all states is 6 94 Utah and North Dakota rank dead last ith identical scores Of The only credit rtah fo)ts is because the In J - " k lip 744 4 v' 1' '' got‘ IPShlir : T :t -7i4p-) - I 6011 s nAere h h r i '' : E- I! ! k'4 'Iii--1 ' 'd - 11! 1‘1' s Geer tro riA fTha:: t b11 i( ly4 law into Utah-- public-wordTo the surprise of few journahsts Utah is listed with North Dakota at the bottom of the the 50 states in a survey ranking public-recordlaws The study based on 16 provisions including five key criteria could award a state a score of 16 if it relies on specifics rather it 4 fr 1nirtian1 A 4h6 ri - ' '1'1"' Irt?:r A new study indicates the time is ripe to resume discussions about putting some fangs h Thf et t ! it Alf Pratte 046 frw entire community benefits Government in moralistic stales tends to be more accountable legislators tend to be less tolerant of corruption arid residents tend to be more activer more participants in pohtics issue-oriente- d All Pratte A a Brigham Voting Llnit ersity associate professor of communications and Tribune rorrespondenr I Utah and the morahstic states contrast with individuahstic- and traditionalistic- states The former include New Jersey Indiana and Nevada where the role of government is sA more limited In -- individuahstic cultures pohhcs is a marketplace in which private interests compete for private gain The role of government is to keep the marketplace functioninv efficiently but not to interfere The traditionalistic political culture values a paternalistic and elite view of politics and goYernment Important positions in governmeni are held t jt thit top f tht: social order viewing their role as conservative and custodial Such states are usually in the South the he t known of V hIch are Virginia South Carohna and Mississippi i Foreigm Correspondents Are a Dying Unique Breed e J ) k4---"::"'i- - ) ilreit-47:- 1ivir far unhappily the Chinese are providing more ammunition for his critics than they are for Bush While martial law has been lifted in Beijing arrests continue peaceful dem- Public-Record- v ' 6 So Utah 1--- 0 second-guesse- onstrations are still banned journalists are still restricted and the Voice of America is still being jammed New rules requiring students to work for five years before applying to continue their educations abroad are so crippling that ev en Bush called them "counterproductive The disquiet Republicans feel about Busn s policy of cultivating the current Chinese leaders was demonstrated on Feb 7 when Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger tried to defend the policy before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Eagleburger had accompanied White House National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft on the July and December missions to Beijing Sen Frank Murkowski begged him just to "take a scrap of paper and write out a paragraph I can use- in justifying administration policy to angry Chinese students Shouldn't the Chinese be making concilia-tory gestures to us"- he asked Don't they need us more than we need them' Foreign policy experts in the hearing room snickered at what they considered the naivete of Murkowski's questions But my hunch is that those are exactly the questions that will be at the heart of the domestic political debate if the Chinese leaders continue to make Bush's gamble look bad Thanks to skillful questioning by three of the committee Democrats Seri! Joseph PaPaul Sarbanes den and John Kerry Eagleburger as led into laying out the assumptions underlying the administration's policy rnori clearly than any one else has done The approach to China is utterly different from the approach to Eastern Europe he 1 4 '7------ high-leve- than rhetoric 4 4141-r- N :(1 - btckwor4 2 students worried about their fate at the hands of the regime that crushed the student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square last June Bush said his decision to handle the students status by administrative action rather than legislation would keep the Chinese from lamming the door on other exchanges More broadly he defended that unpopular decision l missions he sent to and the two Beijing last year on the grounds that he Bush had been the U S envoy to China in the '70s and shoold not be n o An People5' ?epubliL reformerc look forw6rd tible lee2er5 ri4e every 4ilemnitA cont6n5 own February 21 1990 'age 10 5V Contuciu iI I ntl 'here remained always something of the child least a fresh childlike perception of the orld It always amazed me that despite the horrible etients they continually wit missed they nefr really grew jaded or pessimistic about humankind I decided early that whether it was Keyes Beech or John Gunther or Robert Capa or Arnaud de Borchgrave or Ernest Hemingway — this was because they were experiencing life dirertly and full and not virariotil? 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