2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 1, 1996 NATION/WORLD Ex-.Clinto: Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON - A former White Hbuse aide yesterday strongly denied reports that he had solicited S 15 million From Taiwan's ruling party for President 1inton's re-election campaign. ::Mark Middleton issued a statement denouncing as false the allegations made by a Taipei public relations con- sultant who claims to have been present -when Middleton arranged to receive $15 million for Clinton from Liu Tai- Ying, chief financial officer of the :,Uomintang Party. Liu also has denied " charge. - The denial came as the public rela- tions consultant, C.P Chen, went public in Taiwan with his accusations about Middleton. Chen previously had spoken to the media only on the condition that he not be identified. Also yesterday, Attorney General Janet Reno said her department has begun the lengthy process of determin- ing whether to put an investigation of fund-raising by Clinton aides into the hands of an independent counsel, as requested by leading Republicans. Justice Department sources said it could take between a month and 120 days for Reno to decide whether to seek appointment of an independent counsel. aide denies soliciting funds Reno rejected the Republicans' request for a prompt decision. Middleton, 34, is an Arkansan who previously worked as an aide to White House senior aide Thomas "Mack" McLarty and who has been working as an international relations consultant since leaving the White House in February 1995. In his statement, Middleton said that he had been to Taiwan several times on business. But he carefully< contradicted nearly every other element in the account of an August 1995 meet- ing that Chen said Clinton he observed between Liu and Middleton in Taipei. "While I was in Taiwan," Middleton said, "I never represented that I was a current White House employee, never stated or implied that I was attempting to raise funds for the DNC (Democratic National Committee) or for any candi- date, and never accepted or arranged any contributions to the DNC or to any candidate from any foreign source." Middleton did not make any reference to whether or not he had met with Liu in Taipei that August. He also did not say why, as American officials have said, he brought Liu to a Democratic fund-raiser in San Francisco a month later. Chen claims that Middleton solicited funds for the Clinton campaign from Liu and, in return, that Liu pledged $15 million to the campaign. But there is no evidence that Liu made any such dona- tion, which would be illegal under vari- ous U.S. laws, including those placing limits on campaign contributions and others governing contributions from foreign sources. The meeting between Liu and Clinton came at a delicate time for Taiwan, which has not enjoyed formal diplomat- ic relations with the United States since 1979. The country's political leaders have invested heavily over the years to lobby through whatever channels they could to win closer ties to the United States, which formally recognizes Taiwan's enemy, mainland China. In late 1995, Taiwan was preparing for its first presidential elections the following spring. Middleton acknowledged in his state- ment yesterday that he is "acquainted with" two other men who also have been accused of improperly soliciting campaign funds from Taiwanese and other Asian sources. Those two men are John Huang, a former Commerce Department official who has been the chief Democratic Party fund-raiser for Asian-Americans, and James Wood, who heads the American Institute for Taiwan, the U.S. government-funded agency that han- dles diplomacy with Taipei. Even before Reno received requests for an independent counsel, the Justice Department was investigating charges that Wood solicited illegal campaign contributions from business executives in Taiwan. In addition, Huang was recently suspended from his job at the DNC when it was learned that he had been involved in collecting illegal or improper donations in the United States, and perhaps in Asia as well. Reno said the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section will conduct a review that is certain to continue beyond Tuesday's presidential elec- tion. Reno insisted that no one in the White House has talked to her about the requests for an independent counsel. She also denied suggestions that the Justice Department was attempting to delay the Huang probe until after the election. Perot likely to secure political future PHILADELPHIA - Just when it seemed he was about to head quietly into the electoral sunset - after four years of on- again, off-again presidential efforts - Ross Perot has sparked a last-minute bump that may be enough to give the Texas bil- lionaire yet another political life. It is not quite a Perot surge. Not even a boomlet. And it is not likely to get the Reform Party candidate anywhere near a vic- tory next week. He does not lead in any state and thus, at the moment, has no prospects for a single electoral vote. But by moving into low double digits in some polls for the first time this campaign season, the two-time presidential can- didate is likely to secure at least some credibility, and a politi- Perot cal future, for himself and his Reform Party. His minisurge of up to 4 percentage points in the past few days has afforded Perot more attention as he closes his campaign with a flurry of rallies around the country, and has even raised some anxious eyebrows in the Dole and Clint* camps. "He can't win," Bob Dole said in appealing to Perot supporters in Florida yes- terday. "I can beat one candidate. I can't beat two." A mayor who is an enthusiastic booster of the downtown (and the rest of the City). calls attention to the " nhghlghts of &d your reports. Amazing full' color copies with many options including reductions, enlargments, & -spot color additions. I 1 1 color copies r r r no editing ..4 Dollar Bill C40PYIVG 611 Church Street behind Amers 665-9200 --1 r Mayor Ingrid Sheldon helping out the local economy. Paid for by the Ingrid Sheldon for Mayor Committee Doug F. Ziesemer, Treasurer, 122 S. Main, Ann Arbor 48104 Li KIn ow of Dail. R- I G I O U S $ERVICS AVAVAVAVA CAMPUS CHAPEL Christian Reformed Campus Ministry 1236 Washtenaw Ct. 668-7421 (one block south of CCRB) SUNDAY WORSHIP: loam- "Who will I Become" 7p.m.-Music of the Spirit" Music of Stephen Rush call for information 662-2402 WEDNESDAY: 9-10:15pm-Student Gathering: provocative discussion, fun, food Rev. Don Postema, Pastor CANTERBURY HOUSE Episcopal Student Ministry at the University of Michigan 721 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (313) 665-0606 The Rev. Matthew Lawrence, Chaplain SUNDAYS: Holy Eucharist followed by supper, Lord of Light Lutheran Church 801 S. Forest Ave. Fridays, 3:30-5:00pm, Bible Study at Canterbury House. Friday Nov. 1, 8:00pm: Fri. Night Film, Dead Man Walking Free admission & and free popcorn. Daily meditation and prayer, Tues.- Fri. 9:15-10:00am. Drop in for coffee & silence. Spiritual Direction the first Mon. of every month. 2:00- 6:00pm. KOREAN CHURCH OF ANN ARBOR 3301 Creek Dr. 971-9777 SUNDAY: 9:30 a.m. English, 11 a.m. & 7:30 p.m. Korean LUTHERAN CAMPUS MINISTRY LORD OF LIGHT LUTHERAN CHURCH 801 S.Forest (at Hill St.) 668-7622 SUNAY: Worship at 10 a.m. WED.: Evening Prayer-7 Choir-7:30 TH;URS.: Issues of Faith Group-7:00 John Rollefson & Meg Dram Campus Ministers PACKARD ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH Contemporary worship services at 9:00 am and 12 noon on Sundays. Brazilian plane crash kills at least 98 SAO PAULO, Brazil - The passen- ger jet was in the air for less than five minutes yesterday before it clipped an apartment building and skidded through the Vila Santa Catarina neigh- borhood, spilling fuel and igniting cars and homes. All 90 passengers and six crew mem- bers aboard TAM Regional Airlines Flight 402 were killed. At least three Americans were among the dead. Two bodies were pulled from rubble on the ground, and the death toll was expected to rise as firefighters, civil defense workers, police and volunteers searched the debris amid charred house frames. Part of the fuselage stuck out of a garage roof. The narrow, winding streets of red-tile-roofed houses were littered with pieces of twisted metal and melted plastic. The Fokker-100 jetliner took off from Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport at 8:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. Ann Arbor time) and was en route to Rio de Janeiro when it Military raises cigarette prices 4 BOLLING AIR FORCE BASE - Call it the war on tobacco: Beginning today, the Pentagon will hike the price of cigarettes at on-base supermarkets by $4 a carton to discourage soldiers from smoking. "I think it will work too," smoker Eva Hamilton said yesterday as she stocked up on cigarettes at the com- missary in Washington. "I won't be able to smoke as much -- can't afford it." The cartons of brandname cigarettes, rising from the current $11.50 to about $15.50, will still be cheaper than the $17.50 common at private grocery stores. The Defense Department is impos- ing the increase despite opposition from a congressional panel, which con- tends the Pentagon doesn't have the power to make such a change -without its approval. Base exchanges - military-run department stores - will have the same higher cigarette prices even though they are separate from the food- only commissaries. Prices at base exchanges generally are similar to those of private stores except that there is no tax. U.S. rep. invites jurors for Hill lunch WASHINGTON - Inviting.con- stituents to Washington for a tour of the Capitol and lunch is an everyday event for members of Congress. But this time it was different: Rep. Joseph McDade hosted the jurors who acquitted him this summer of federal bribery and rack~ tceerng charges. About a dozen jurors and guests got a stop-to-bottom" tour of the Capitol, with a Stop for sandwiches and soda at an out door patio at the base of the Capitol dome, a participant said yesterday. "I can never adequately express our gratitude to you, nor can my wife or children," McDade said in inviting to Washington the jurors who had ended an 8-year ordeal for the "41 term Pennsylvania Republican. crashed only a mile from the runway, said civil defense Sgt. Carlos Santana. The weather was sunny and clear. Japan leader likely to gain new term TOKYO - Unable to form a new coalition government, the LiberaI Democratic Party yesterday struck a loose alliance with two smaller partfes that virtually ensures Ryutaro Hashimoto will continue as Japan's prime minister. But how effectively can implement his conservative, p business policies as head of a minority government remained unclear. The LDP scored sharp gains in the Oct. 20 parliamentary elections, jump- ing from 211 seats to 239 seats in the lower house but falling short of a 251- seat majority. Unless Hashimoto manages to cobble together a stable coalition from the bick- ering conservative opposition, -Ji remains trapped in an unhappy politi4 marriage with the Social Democrats - Compiled fom Daily wire reports. The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term. starting in September, via U.S. mail are $85. Winter term (January through April) is $95. yearlong (September through April) is $165. On-campus su scriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. 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STAFF: Coln Bartos, Eugene Bowen, Anitha Chalam, Melanie Cohen, Mark Feldman, Stephanie Gickman, Hae-Jin Kim Kar Jones, Brian M Kemp. Stephanie Jo Klein. Emily Lambert, Bryan Lark, Krstin Long. Elizabeth Lucas Janes Miller. Aaron Rennie, Jula Shih. Christopher Tkaczyk, Prashant Tamaskar, Angela Walker, Kelly Xintaris. PHOTO Mark Friedman, Edlt ASSISTANT EDITOR: Sara Stillman. STAFF: Josh Biggs, Jennifer Bradley-Swift. Aja Dekleva Cohen. John Kraft. Margaret Myers. Jty Park, Damian Petrescu, Kristen Schaefer. Jeannie Servaas. Jonathan Summer. Joe Westrate. Warren Zinn. COPY DESK Elizabeth Lucas, Editor STAFF: Lydia Alspach, Jill Litwin. Heather Miller. Adreanne Mispelon. Anupama Reddy, Matt Spewak, David Ward, Jen Woodward. ONLINE Scott Wilcox, Editor STAFF: Dana Goldberg, Jeffrey Greenstein, Charles Harrison, A nuJ Hasija. Adam Pollock, Vamshi Thandra, Anthony Zak