Battered at home, Clinton heads for Asia<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuter): Battered at home, President Bill Clinton
\nheaded to Asia yesterday to preach the virtues of free trade in
\nhopes his appearance on the world stage will burnish his image in
\nAmerica.<\/p>\n
Still shell-shocked from Tuesday elections in which opposition
\nRepublicans seized Congress from his Democrats, Clinton was to
\nleave the mess behind for 10 days on a trip centered around the
\nAsia-Pacific Economic Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, next
\nweek.<\/p>\n
In a rambling, 41-minute speech on Thursday, Clinton said the
\nUnited States would work with other Asian leaders at the annual
\nAPEC summit to set concrete goals to open the way for doing more
\nbusiness in Asia.<\/p>\n
\"I hope and expect we'll set a target date for achieving free
\nand open trade among all the Asian-Pacific economies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In individual meetings with various leaders, he said he would
\nraise U.S. concerns about other issues including the progress of
\nhuman rights and democracy in the region, issues he said will
\nrequire \"patience and persistence\".<\/p>\n
\"Even though there may be no sudden breakthroughs, we must
\ncontinue to be persistent. As in the past, I will be doing
\neverything I can to be frank in terms of our differences as well
\nas our potential partnerships with the Chinese, with the
\nIndonesians, and with others,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But a key goal of the Clinton White House is to show the folks
\nback home, through television images, their president is a
\ncommanding figure on the world stage and add to his recent
\nforeign policy successes in the Middle East, Haiti and Iraq.<\/p>\n
This process was to start on Friday morning when the president
\ndelivered a departure statement in the Rose Garden laying out his
\nobjectives, then continue when he presides over a rally at
\nAlaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base during a refueling stop.<\/p>\n
Clinton is to arrive in Manila, Philippines, late on Saturday,
\nthen flies on to Jakarta on Sunday night. He leaves there on
\nWednesday night for a few days of rest in Hawaii and returns to
\nWashington on Sunday, Nov. 20.<\/p>",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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