Official Visits Japan

A false report that President Bush died at a Japanese banquet came within seconds of being broadcast over CNN's Headline News early Wednesday, spurring renewed efforts on the part of the Atlanta-based all-news network to prevent such hoaxes from making their way to the airwaves in the future. CNN spokesman Steve Haworth acknowledged Thursday that Headline News anchor Don Harrison did begin to report "tragic" news at 6:45 a.m.

The Dalai Lama risked riling China on Saturday as he discussed the touchy issue of Taiwanese independence and Tibet's relations with Beijing at the start of a 10-day trip to this island. Nibbling cookies and laughing during an hourlong news conference, the Tibetan spiritual leader said China's suspicions about his second visit to Taiwan were unfounded. He did not come to plot with the Taiwanese about how to split up China, he said.

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, moving to heal a valued neighbor's historic wounds, apologized Tuesday for the cruel treatment and deaths of Japanese prisoners in his country after World War II and agreed that a dispute over four small islands Moscow seized from Japan must be resolved.

With President Clinton again presiding over Mideast peace talks at Camp David, negotiations moved into high gear Sunday, as Clinton met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in discussions expected to stretch far into the night. "The president is back, he's ready to go," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. Returning to the talks after an almost four-day absence, Clinton met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak even before being briefed by his senior advisors, Boucher said.

Less than 24 hours after returning to the United States from a Japanese trade mission, Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee A. Iacocca said Friday that the United States is getting its "brains beaten in" by Japan and should retaliate soon. Iacocca's bellicosity notwithstanding, top Japanese and U.S. auto makers have tentatively agreed to meet here next month to continue the trade-related talks begun in Japan during President Bush's Asian trip, company officials said Friday.

In response to "Buchanan an Anti-Semite? It's a Smear," by Murray Rothbard, Column Right, Jan. 6: As a professor of economics, Rothbard should distinguish between a person's ideas and his personality. His friend Buchanan may be a human being with some admirable person-to-person traits. But does this excuse a consistent trail of disturbing comments that seem to put him on the side of those who hate the Jewish people?

The Dalai Lama risked riling China on Saturday as he discussed the touchy issue of Taiwanese independence and Tibet's relations with Beijing at the start of a 10-day trip to this island. Nibbling cookies and laughing during an hourlong news conference, the Tibetan spiritual leader said China's suspicions about his second visit to Taiwan were unfounded. He did not come to plot with the Taiwanese about how to split up China, he said.

Mayor Richard Riordan and his traveling delegation left Japan on Friday for the rest of Asia, taking with them a clearer vision of the critical but complex role that overseas deals will play in Los Angeles' economic growth. Over the past week, Japanese businessmen have approached mayoral aides to broach the idea of building a major Los Angeles hotel. U.S.

Hopes that President Clinton's trip to Asia would provide an escape from the seamy topic of his impeachment hearings dissolved Thursday when a Japanese woman asked him one of the toughest questions he has faced yet--at least publicly--about his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky. Prefacing her question by saying she would not forgive her husband for such behavior, a smiling Osaka homemaker asked Clinton how he had apologized to his wife and daughter and whether they had forgiven him.

President Clinton will skip the first day of his long-scheduled trip to Japan to stay at the Camp David peace talks, the White House announced early today. It was a clear indication that Israeli and Palestinian leaders are tantalizingly close to a deal. White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said Clinton will delay his departure for the summit of industrialized nations until Thursday to give him one more day at the Middle East conference table.

President Clinton will skip the first day of his long-scheduled trip to Japan to stay at the Camp David peace talks, the White House announced early today. It was a clear indication that Israeli and Palestinian leaders are tantalizingly close to a deal. White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said Clinton will delay his departure for the summit of industrialized nations until Thursday to give him one more day at the Middle East conference table.

When Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi of Japan meets with President Clinton in Washington on Monday, the two leaders will be trying to shore up the most important relationship in the world. That may sound like overstatement when war in Kosovo and tensions with China top the news. But the immediate fate of the U.S. and world economies and the long-term fate of Asia--the unification of Korea, the emergence of China--depend on how America and Japan handle their changing relationship.

Privately and publicly, President Clinton warned Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Friday about unfair trade practices, stressing that the burgeoning trade imbalance between the United States and Japan could force the U.S. into a protectionist mode that would have grave consequences for the global economy.

Hopes that President Clinton's trip to Asia would provide an escape from the seamy topic of his impeachment hearings dissolved Thursday when a Japanese woman asked him one of the toughest questions he has faced yet--at least publicly--about his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky. Prefacing her question by saying she would not forgive her husband for such behavior, a smiling Osaka homemaker asked Clinton how he had apologized to his wife and daughter and whether they had forgiven him.

Each of the three times President Clinton has visited Japan, he has come with different priorities and a different image of the country. In 1993, he came here on his first overseas trip to try to deal with Japan the Powerhouse. In early 1996, the president flew here to cultivate Japan the Military Partner. Now he's trying to rejuvenate Japan the Sluggard.

Mayor Richard Riordan and his traveling delegation left Japan on Friday for the rest of Asia, taking with them a clearer vision of the critical but complex role that overseas deals will play in Los Angeles' economic growth. Over the past week, Japanese businessmen have approached mayoral aides to broach the idea of building a major Los Angeles hotel. U.S.

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin is due to arrive in Japan on Sunday for a five-day visit expected to reflect the growing importance that Beijing attaches to its relatively warm ties with Tokyo. Jiang is to meet Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, Emperor Akihito, and leaders of Japan's influential Federation of Economic Organizations. Beijing sees Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations--established 20 years ago--as particularly important with Sino-U.S. relations seriously strained.

In his first public remarks since returning to Detroit from last week's presidential trade visit to Japan, General Motors Corp. Chairman Robert C. Stempel on Sunday sought to cast a positive spin on the trip, praising the improved U.S. government-industry relations that it appeared to herald. But the leader of the world's largest auto producer cautioned that the Japanese market was still largely closed to U.S.

Mayor Richard Riordan kicked off potentially far-reaching trip to Asia on Monday with fanfare and decorum--hosting an upbeat news conference to promote Los Angeles tourism, then visiting the imperial palace for a rare meeting with the emperor and empress of Japan. The audience with the Japanese imperial couple, also attended by Riordan's new wife, Nancy Daly Riordan, was extraordinarily rare for an American mayor.

Among the most disappointed by President Clinton's cancellation of his Japan trip is Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. Sources here said he was counting on an Osaka meeting with Clinton to set U.S.-Chinese relations back on track before the distractions of the upcoming American presidential campaign season.