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Editorials
Friday, September 22, 2000Exercise right to vote
in primary electionThe issue: Elections tomorrow will feature the Honolulu mayor's race, which is not a primary.
TOMORROW is primary elections day, but the most important race isn't a primary. The election for mayor of Honolulu is nonpartisan. If any candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, he's elected. If not, the two top vote-getters will square off again on Nov. 7.
The incumbent, Jeremy Harris, is hoping to clear the 50 percent hurdle and win outright tomorrow. It could be close. Neither of his two main opponents, Mufi Hannemann or Frank Fasi, appears to have any chance of coming in first tomorrow but together they might be able to force Harris into a runoff.
As it so often is, voter turnout could be decisive. There is usually a smaller turnout for the primary than the general election, which could be a problem for the mayoral election. Citizens should understand that if they want to vote for mayor they should do it tomorrow. There may be no second chance on Nov. 7. Our choice, as explained in this space yesterday, is Jeremy Harris.
Similarly, the special elections to fill two vacancies on the Honolulu City Council -- for Districts 7 (Kalihi to Halawa) and 8 (Halawa to Waipahu) are not primaries. It's winner take all.
Nonpartisan elections for county council seats will also be held on Maui and Kauai. Only the Big Island Council races are now partisan, requiring primary elections. The Big Island mayoral election is also a partisan affair.
There are also primaries for two U.S. House seats and one U.S. Senate seat and for House and Senate seats in the state Legislature.
The state Board of Education elections are nonpartisan but come in two stages. In the voting tomorrow, the list of candidates will be whittled down. The survivors will compete in the runoff on the general election ballot.
Unfortunately, too little attention is paid to the Board of Education elections. The board is the policy-making body for the school system, a vital function in our democracy. It's important to elect dedicated and knowledgeable people to the board.
In primary voting the voter may choose any party's ballot, but only one. If more than one party's ballot is used, the vote will be spoiled.
People who think they aren't missing anything by passing up the primary elections and voting only in the general elections are making a mistake. Without your vote in the primary, candidates you expect to be on the general election ballot may not make it.
If you haven't already cast an absentee ballot, turn out at your neighborhood polling station tomorrow and exercise your right to vote. That is the essence of democracy.
PRIMARY ELECTION GUIDE
China trade pact
CONGRESS' passage of the China trade bill puts Sino-American relations on a distinctly different plane. Although most people have forgotten, Bill Clinton came into office pledged to end China's most-favored-nation trade status because of its human-rights abuses.
From that position, Clinton has moved 180 degrees, to advocating permanent normal trade status for Beijing.
This removes a major irritant in relations, the annual struggle in Congress to renew China's trade status. The result was the same every year -- denial of normal trade status would have severely damaged relations, perhaps resulted in a crisis -- but the struggle took a toll and achieved no perceptible improvement in China's human rights record.
Except for the trade status issue, the concessions in the agreement appear to be all on the Chinese side, lowering barriers to U.S. exports and investment. This is particularly important because the U.S. trade deficit with the Jiang Zemin regime is the biggest of any country, even exceeding the deficit with Japan. For July, the trade deficit with China rose to $7.6 billion, a record.
Aside from human rights critics, the main opposition to the bill came from organized labor. But the United States is already flooded with cheap Chinese-made goods under current law.
This measure gives American manufacturers the opportunity to sell more goods made by American workers in China. The overwhelming 83-15 vote in the Senate this week (with Hawaii's Senator Inouye in favor and Senator Akaka not voting) showed that many of labor's allies couldn't buy its arguments.
Permanent normal trade status will come into effect when China is admitted to the World Trade Organization, expected within months. Membership in the WTO will commit Beijing to comply with international trade rules and labor standards and make it more difficult for the regime to keep out unwelcome competitors.
The measure should eventually benefit Hawaii's visitor industry, as prosperity and fewer restrictions in China permit more foreign travel. There is already a sizable middle class in China and it is virtually certain to increase.
Approval of the trade pact should not signal abandonment of criticism of China's human rights abuses, which regrettably continue. Nor should it signal abandonment of Taiwan -- which in fact supports China's entry into the WTO.
Diplomacy must function on the basis of realism, and the reality is that the United States must try to get along with China despite the obvious difficulties.
That means steering a course between abject appeasement and overt hostility. Approval of permanent normal trade relations was essential to strengthening this admittedly difficult relationship.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert 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
