Editorials
Friday, November 13, 1998

This APEC summit
won’t be a picnic

THE annual summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum is being held next week under inauspicious circumstances and in an awkward setting. The region is mired in recession, struggling to recover from the collapse of Asian economies a year ago. Russia, one of three new members, is virtually bankrupt. Governments of the affected countries are not likely to heed appeals to further liberalize their trade policies, a principal goal of APEC. Rather, they are hoping for more bailouts for their ailing economies.

Selecting the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur as the conference site has turned out to be ill-timed. Malaysia has just imposed stringent currency controls after last year's flight of foreign capital.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired his chief deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, who had differed with him on economic policy, and had Anwar arrested on apparently trumped-up charges of treason and sexual offenses. Mahathir thus created an international cause celebre that threatens to make him a pariah in the world community. Some of the visiting leaders have refused to meet with him.

Despite President Clinton's trip to China earlier this year, all is not well between Washington and Beijing and several issues are likely to be raised by Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Clinton may find it necessary to remind Jiang that he is not keeping his promises to respect human rights. Although China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights last month, it continues to detain dissidents who were trying to form an opposition party and has just launched another religious crackdown.

For its part, China is unhappy with Clinton for meeting the Dalai Lama this week at the White House. China is also displeased with Energy Secretary Bill Richardson's visiting Taiwan and holding talks with President Lee Teng-hui. Beijing's policy is to isolate the Tibetan spiritual leader and the Republic of China -- and it is pressuring Washington to toe the line.

China will also have to deal with the Philippines' protests against military encroachment in the disputed Spratly Islands, also claimed by Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Clinton may use the meeting to prod Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to follow through with his plans to stimulate the economy and reform the banking system, a key to economic recovery throughout East Asia. Clinton's visit to Tokyo, scheduled after the APEC meeting, may soothe Japanese resentment over the cancelation of an earlier visit and omission of a stop in Tokyo when the president visited China.

Charity scams

THE season is approaching when people need to be wary of bogus charity organizations trying to feed off their holiday generosity. Most Americans donate to charities, but many don't know how their contributions will be spent. The widespread acceptance of telemarketing to solicit contributions has created fertile territory for scam artists.

A survey conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons shows that 80 percent of Americans made at least one charitable donation in the past year, although two-thirds weren't sure the telephone solicitors were from the organizations they claimed to represent. More than half never asked how their donations would be spent.

Among the most common charity cons is one perpetrated by swindlers claiming to represent police or firefighting organizations. The AARP survey showed that about 40 percent of Americans are predisposed to giving money to such groups.

The Hawaii Office of Consumer Affairs last year filed suit against a telemarketing company that ran a sales campaign for the Hawaii Police Athletic Association after the company was banned from doing business in Oregon. While the telemarketing company was indeed raising money for the association, only one-tenth of what it raised actually reached that destination.

Would-be donors should be skeptical of telemarketers and ask pertinent questions. Charitable organizations in Hawaii are required to file financial statements with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and are forbidden to misrepresent their operations. But the law can be enforced only after misrepresentations are reported to authorities.

Endorsement of Ward

A letter writer criticizes our endorsement of Gene Ward, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Hawaii's 1st Congressional District. The writer says our "strongest recommendation" was based on Ward's support for exempting Hawaii from the Jones Act, the law that reserves domestic shipping to U.S. companies with U.S. crews and ships.

He argues that Ward's claim that the proposed exemption would save every family in Hawaii $1,000 a year is absurd. The writer also points out that Ward's business experience "consists mostly of teaching (he calls it consulting) about business, not engaging in it."

In fact,the editorial did not support exempting Hawaii from the Jones Act or accept Ward's $1,000-a-year savings figure, which was not even mentioned. We said the Star-Bulletin is "not convinced that he's (Ward) right, but we believe that the proposal deserves serious consideration." It is at least conceivable that letting foreign competitors into the Hawaii-mainland shipping business could result in savings for Hawaii consumers.

As for Ward's business experience, the writer is correct that it is mainly as a consultant. But that is exactly what the editorial said, although the letter insinuates otherwise.

The main point of the endorsement editorial was that Ward "would bring a much-needed pro-business emphasis" to the Hawaii congressional delegation -- not Ward's stand on the Jones Act. Such an emphasis is still sorely lacking with Ward's defeat.

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Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership

Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor