i NATION/WORLD The Michigan Daily - TuesdayApril22, 1997-13 t _ Floods threaten clean, water GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - With a record flood filling most of the city with filthy water, city officials said yesterday they were considering stringing a hose up to 22 miles across the prairie to bring in clean water so people could at least wash their hands. "What people take for granted day to day, like taking a shower and wash- ing clothes, isn't going to happen for quite a while," said National Guard Capt. Greg Bowen. "The sanitary con- ditions are primitive at best" The Red River that had flooded 75 percent of the city also shut down the municipal water treatment plant, and there was no water service for the esti- mated 10 percent of the city's 50,000 inhabitants who hadn't left yet. "The toilet part is the worst," said Richard George. "We just flush it with melted snow. We were melting snow on the barbecue grill." Portable bathrooms and drinking water stations were scattered through- HONG KONG Continued from Page 1S diet a smooth transition and a promising future for Hong Kong. "I feel that there will be no big changes," said LSA junior John Kim, who is originally from Hong Kong. "China and Hong Kong have already agreed to follow the Basic Law system - to follow the 'one country, two sys- tems' model." Kim criticized Hong Kong's Governor Chris Patten, who proposed new political reforms in 1992 without consulting the Hong Kong people or China. Patten's reforms were implement- ed in 1995, resulting in Hong Kong's first ever directly elected legislature. University Associate Political Science Prof. Yasheng Haung, who teaches a class on China, said although China intends to scrap major democrat- ic progress in Hong Kong, leaders in Bejing would adopt Hong Kong's earli- er political system. "It is true that the Chinese govern- ment plans to roll back civil liberties but I don't think they want to do more," Haung said. "They want to roll back the political system to the pre-Patten era." Stephanie Hu, a School of Business Administration junior who is originally from Hong Kong, also felt that any political reform would be limited, although she noted it's hard to predict China's actions. "In the near future, the political sys- tem should not have a drastic change, but nobody knows," Hu said. Hu said although Patten's political reforms were destined to be repealed, they were not a waste of time. "On the positive side, probably, it will increase the awareness of human rights," Hu said. "The downside is hav- ing to adjust to a Chinese system that is very different." Ian Perkin, assistant director of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said while it was disap- pointing that China will repeal recent democratic reforms in Hong Kong, Britain was not as wiling to nurture Hong Kong's political development as the Western press has been report- ing. "The problem here is that there seems to be a view in the United States, about the political situation and the human rights situation in the future Hong Kong," Perkin said. "We see it from a different perspec- tive. "One can't forget Hong Kong is a colony. Democratic reform in Hong Kong only extends from 1992 on. Only five years ago, the Governor of Hong Kong was all powerful," Perkin said. Kim and Haung also complained about the coverage of the Western media. "I think the Western media is biased in a way," Kim said. "They only sensa- tionalize (the handover) because it's a communist country taking over a capi- talist one" Haung said the press is making a mis- take by focusing on Hong Kong's politics. "I think the Western media is doing a very bad job," Haung said. "They think China is imposing China's own political system in Hong Kong, (but) China is imposing the (pre.-1992) system. Haung said the media also is over- looking the economic consequences of the reunification. "The West should be more concerned about economic aspects of Hong Kong, m'ore than political aspects, because there's a clear danger that the laissez- faire system may be undermined," Haung said. Economic success following the han- dover is also a concern of Hong Kong students at the University. Rita Chan, an LSA first-year student and social secretary of the Hong Kong Students Association, said most of the 170 HKSA members are more worried about employment opportunities than politics. "I think a lot of us are probably wor- rying about jobs when we go buck," Chan said. Perhaps as evidence of their con- fidence in the future, Kim, Chan and Hu all intend to return to Hong Kong. My family members "have no plans leave,' Kim said. "I don't think any- thing will go wrong." Hu said re-unification with China will be a historic moment. The handover "is gaining more expo- sure," Hu said. "It's in the spotlight. I'll be there." 2 I AP PHOTO This house flooded up to its second floor yesterday in Grand Folks, N.D. due to continued flooding of the Red River which is 25 feet over flood level. out the city's still-dry extreme west end. In public and motel restrooms, the stench built up until crews could periodically come by with flushing water. The city also supplied most of the water for Grand Forks Air Force Base, where more than 2,000 of the city's refugees were staying. The base still had a reserve of clean water, was pumping some water from a nearby small town and planned to bring in 20 large tanker trucks, said a spokesperson, Capt. Byron Spencer. Riots block aid, threaten to disperse starving Rwandans f _.. .. e. . .... .._. «. KISANGANI, Zaire (AP) -- Zairian rebels blocked aid workers from enter- ing refugee camps yesterday, raising fears that 100,000 Rwandans, starving and terrified, might try to flee deeper into the dense tropical forest. The rebels said they were closing off camps south of Kisangani to restore order after the slaughter of six Zairian villagers sent local residents on a ram- page, looting and stoning foreign jour- nalists and aid workers. It was unclear who the killers were. International agencies already had suspended aid shipments because of such attacks, but wanted rebel assur- ances they could safely return and pre- pare for a planned airlift of the refugees home to Rwanda. Instead, the rebels told them yesterday to stay away. The refugees --- dying at a rate of 60 per day from malaria, dysen- tery, pneumonia and cholera - have enough food to last about two days. "We're concerned about what's hap.. pening in the camps, because we've got nobody there," said Paul Stromberg, spokesperson for the tI.N High Commissioner for Refugees. "We're concerned that in present circum- stances, they may leave." UNHCR planned to fly over the camps today to see whether refugees were fleeing, Stromberg said. The United Nations condemned recent attacks by Zairian mobs, includ- ing yesterday's, and linked them to rebel stalling of what would be the biggest refugee airlift in Africa. The United Nations. wants to fly the 100,000 refugees south of K isangani to the Rwandan border, then repatriate them. U N. Secretary-Gieneral Kofi Annan and u N High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata met yesterday in Geneva. Ogata said the situation had worsened since Zairian mobs stoned the cars of foreign aid workers on Friday "Today, the military told us that we would not be allowed in the camps: Ogata said in a statement. "That is not good enough. We must have access and we must begin the airlift. The airlift originally was to have begun Friday, but rebels have delayed it. saying an airlift would spread disease and clog rebel-held airports. Instead. the alliance wants trucks to take the refugees on the 375-mile drive to the border. Parts of the road are in such bad shape that extensive repairs would be needed first. Already tense relations between Zairians and Rwandan refugees wors- ened yesterday, when assailants with machine guns shot and killed six vil- lagers in their mud huts in Kasese. 15 miles south of Kisangani. It was not known who committed the attack, but villagers claimed to hear the killers speaking the Rwandan language. Kinvarwanda, and blamed Rwandan llutu militiamen from the refugee camps. Many ethnic-Tutsi rebels also speak K inyarwanda. Asida Musalia said the attackers ordered him to go in his hut "Then. 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