| Summary: | 6 TheConcordian WOKLD March 13, 1998 China blames Taiwan for financial turmoil BEIJING (AP) — China accused rival Taiwan Tuesday of aggravat-ing Southeast Asia's financial tur-moil by letting its currency depreci-ate. A government spokesman also blamed Taiwan for trying to woo economically troubled countries. Foreign Ministry* spokesman Zhu Bangzao cited Taiwan Vice President Lien Chan's trip last week to Malaysia as the latest example. Zhu said a decision by Taiwan last October to let its currency depreciate caused a "sharp fall in the stock markets in Southeast Asia." Taiwan's Central Bank stopped defending the Taiwan dol-lar after spending $5 billion failed to deter speculators. "Taiwan has played a bad role in aggravating the financial crisis in Southeast Asia," Zhu said at a rou-tine media briefing. By sending commercial delega-tions to Southeast Asian countries, Taiwan also "attempted to develop substantive relations with certain countries," Zhu said. He added that China is opposed to countries hav-ing formal political ties with Taiwan. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a rebel province without the rights and privileges of sovereign coun-tries. The island is ruled by the nationalists, who were ousted from the mainland by the communists in 1949. Zhu did not name any specific countries, but it was obvious he was referring to Malaysia. Lien returned from Malaysia Saturday declaring that relations contained everything short of formal diplo-matic ties. Zhu said countries in the region respect China's position on Taiwan, so the island's forays to open diplomatic relations "are doomed to failure." Taiwan's economy has remained relatively free from the regional tur-moil that erupted last summer. In tours of the region, Taiwanese politicians have touted their econo-my's strengths. Taiwanese business executives, flush with a fairly strong currency, have bought up suddenly cheap assets in affected countries. China has pledged not to deval-ue its currency, the yuan. Chinese leaders have as recently as Saturday cited the decision as proof of China's responsible role in the region. Economists fear if China devalues, other countries would follow suit, further exacerbating financial instability. Flower poachers caught and fined in Russia MOSCOW (AP) — Dozens of people were caught picking endangered species of flowers in a Russian wildlife park near the Black Sea over the weekend, when International Women's Day was celebrated, officials said Tuesday. Flower sales soar in Russia around March 8, one of most popular holidays of the year when most people feel obligated to present flowers and chocolates to their female friends, co-workers and relatives. In the Matsesta wildlife park near the resort city of Sochi,' police caught more than 80 people who picked cyclamens, snowdrops and other species of flowers that are officially listed as endangered, foresters said. Matsesta's senior forester Alexander Shavonin told the ITAR-Tass news agency that the offenders were fined 16 rubles (about 12.50) for each flower they picked — a considerable amount in Russia. "However, the money collected in fines is not enough to compensate for the damage caused to nature by poachers," Shavonin said. Around the World PARIS (AP) — 1 About 4,000 people held a colorful rally in front of the Eiffel Tower Sunday to mark the 39th anniversary of Tibet's failed uprising against China - the third such demonstration in Europe this year. Tibetans draped a large banner reading "Tibet*1 from the Eiffel Tower and covered nearby trees with small cards in the colors of the Tibetan flag. At a rally at Trocadero Square, in front of the Eiffel Tower, hundreds of balloons were released into the sky. 2 FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Cass County prosecutors will get no more trial delays in the case of a transient charged with murder, a state judge said Wednesday. Cass County State's Attorney John Goff asked East Central District Judge Lawrence Leclerc to delay the trial of Ambrose Whiteman for five or six more months. Evidence crucial to the prosecution's case has not come back from the FBI, Goff said, and is not expected back for at least several months. 3 JERUSALEM (AP) — Reg&te White, visit-ing a site that many Christians believe marks the scene of Jesus* bur-ial and resurrection, was clearly moved Monday. Dubbed the "minister of defense" because he is both a preacher and a All- Pro defensive end for the Green Bay Packers, White said he didn't know whether "to be excited or cry." Along with a 310-member group of pilgrims from Wisconsin and environs, White visited the Garden Tomb. 4 VALLEYVIEW, Alberta (AP) — A cow on a Canadian farm has given birth to four healthy calves in what veterinarians called an extremely rare inci-dent, the Edmonton Sun reported Sunday. The two bull and two heifer calves, averaging 59 pounds each, were born without the use of fertility drugs at a ranch owned by the Ridge Valley Hutterite Colony near Valleyview, 200 miles northwest of Edmonton, the capital, the report said. inton calls for quality child care J BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — President-Clinton called on j Congress to come to the aid of poor parent^ facing a .''crvjp&J unmet need" for quality child care^::^^W^^^^^^'^ In a 15-minute tour of the child care center at Housatonic; Community Technical College, the president chatted and played i with about a dozen preschoolers and watched as 4-year-old Alexis Kennedy assembled a colorful puzzle on a computer- screen. ' ::I0^0^¥^ .'MM "Yaaay!" Clinton exclaimed when she finished it. i^j Clinton wants to earmark $21.7 billion fortax credits to help '•? parents pay for day care and tax incentives for businesses to I provide child care for their employees. : "What I see here today is what I believe every child in .\ America needs," Clinton said. "There is a crying, unmet need jj . all over the country for the kind of high quality child care j that you offer here. | • "We do not need to wait another year just because this is an j election year. We need to do this now/' he said. "We cannot'} ;. have a country that asks people to make a choice between sue- i , ceeding at home and succeeding at work. If we have to choose, we lose." •'•'•"'! \ Clinton ordered improvements in federally sponsored child 3 care facilities, such as ensuring that all centers are fully accred- >j ited and that proper background checks have been conducted on employees. : ' \ Clinton also ordered that federal workers be given full infer- \ mation on which child care benefits and options are available \ to them. : His order covers 1,024 federal centers, including 788 run by 1 the military, 109 by the General Services Administration and/ • 127 by other departments. They serve about 215,000 children.-;: '• The president noted a new report by the Department of; Health and Human Services which shows that, due to con-; strained resources, states have set eligibility levels for chjld carp^ subsidies far below what is allowed by federal lavf^^^-t00: Today's visit was part of a series of events this week that revolve around family and children's issues.•0%8$$" •• ' ^ :• • :^ 2^1 O n Monday, Clinton called on Congress to act on tobacco legislation this year, and devote some funding to an effort to prevent teen-agers from smoking. :\^;;;•:^ v,-;:y;±-;:'^l^<:(;:^:;;:'y^ He will focus Wednesday on women's issues during an obser-vance of International Women's Day, and will take up the youth smoking issue again on Thursday in a speech at the White House before the National Association .of Attorneys General. •,. - White House aides said Clinton was drawn to the Housatonic school because it serves so many poor children and those from single-parent homes. / ^ , ';.-."••• The Housatonic program has 47 preschoolers, ages 3 to 5, about half of whom are the children of faculty, staff or students at the college. ^ / ' • • * / r—^ ;:f:fThe president also was to address a fund-raising luncheon by the Democratic Business Council in Westport, Conn., before departing for Cincinnati to speak at a private fund-raiser hosted by Stanley Chesley, an attorney who has represented smokers in lawsuits against the tobacco industry. ^^^^^M^^&iz ;; The two events were expected to raise $8S0,600, said ^Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Melissa Bonney. • Clinton's attendance at the Cincinnati fundraiser was attacked by Public Citizen's Congress W&tch, which said it is a conflict of interest because Clinton must make decisions on the issue of legal immunity as part of the tobacco settlement. "Mr. Chesley wants a tobacco deal that grants legal immuni-ty to big tobacco because it will resolve his cases and hand-some fees will be paid," Congress Watch director Frank Clemente told The Washington tost. "This fundraiser may not be a quid pro quo but it is surely poorly"timed.*?$^p%mm0$$- White House spokesman Barry Toiv denied that the fundrais-er is a conflict of interest, saying Clinton is "not playing an active role" in the legal fees matter. ••£%• "This has nothing to do with the legislation," Toiv said. "Ir/s not a problem." ' :^^^^¥i^§^^- Chesley told the Fbst tnat the fifridraiser is not eohh&cted to his work. He pointed out that he has raised money for Clinton since 1991. ' "This will be the sixth event I've done for members of the first and second families," Chesley said, referring to the president, vice president and their wives.
|
|---|