John Huang

Re “Taiwan Lobbying in U.S. Gets Results,” Nov. 4:

We should not only focus on Indonesian interests, with John Huang’s raising of questionable campaign contributions for the DNC. Taiwan has been buying goodwill or friendship internationally and locally in Chinese communities in the U.S. for years, except the practice has been more widespread and generous as Taiwan becomes richer. As a Chinese American who participated in some Chinatown functions I can attest to the cultivation mentioned in the article.

The tarnished images of Huang as a Chinese American and Taiwan as a Chinese government give no comfort to the great majority of Chinese Americans who want to be regarded as any other Americans. On the other hand, our approval or non-rejection of President Clinton’s ethics standard will encourage similar kinds of undertakings.

JOHN W. WONG

Arcadia

* President Clinton’s justification for the Democratic National Committee’s accepting campaign “donations” from foreign sources (Nov. 2) reminds me of my childhood morality training. Just because there was no rule (written law) against a particular action didn’t mean that I was excused from breaking the more basic rule against doing what was wrong. Or, as the lawyers say: I was taught to follow the spirit of the law, not just the letter.

It is rather childish for Clinton to justify his party’s actions or lack of morality and common sense because the Republicans did it. He further compounds this childishness by proposing rules or laws to legislate the principles that he has knowingly broken for years. I guess he believes that excuses him. It doesn’t for me.

JOHN F. KERKHOFF

Somis