What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.

DIPLOMATIC LESSON: In its lead editorial, the Chinese-language World Journal, considered how the United States should have dealt with the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.

The editorial is written as if it was by Jim Sasser, U.S. Ambassador to China. "I, Jim Sasser, know that it is in America's long-term interests to have good relationships with the Chinese government and people.

"In the aftermath of NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, my first task would be to assure the safety of the U.S. embassy in Beijing and its personnel. My next concern would have been how to assuage the anger of the Chinese people and government so they would once again feel respect for America.

"I would have invited representatives of the demonstrators into the embassy to make their protests to me personally. . . .

"I would have telephoned the American media and explained why there was so much anger here.

"Once the embassy siege ended I would have apologized to the Chinese people and government. I would have made every effort to go to the funeral of the three journalists killed and brought flowers. I would have officially expressed the condolences of the American people personally to the family. I would have used the Chinese ways of grieving to soothe the families' grief.

["In all the East Asian cultures no emotion is more important than respect," writes PNS translator Franz Schurmann. " Without real -- not feigned or formal -- respect for another person no human relationship is worth very much.

President Clinton's first comments on the bombing -- a few words of regret followed by a vigorous castigation of Serbian president Milosevic - left people throughout the Chinese world feeling Clinton had made short shrift of them. When he signed the condolence book in the presence of ambassador Li Zhaoxing, the action got big play in the Chinese media. Emotions calmed."]

ANOTHER CIVIL WAR ENDING?: A war that has cost more human lives than the wars in Kosovo, Somalia, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Algerian wars may be at a turning point. Ash-Sharq al-Ausat (London) says Sudan's 40 year old civil war may be entering its final stage. Libya's Col. Khaddafi has emerged as a key peacemaker, and the U.S. recently lifted all sanctions on Libya and the Sudan as well as those on Iran. The paper suggests the Clinton administration is a the key behind the scenes player.

The paper published a draft of an agreement to turn the Sudan into a confederation.

IMMIGRATION RELIEF: Undocumented aliens who missed the deadline two years ago to get a "green card" good for 7 years, or obtain a suspension of deportation, may get a second chance, reports the Philippine News (San Francisco). The "Family Reunification Act of 1999," H.R. 1485, a bi-partisan measure would effectively undo 1997 legislation removing the status of lawful permanent residency from illegal aliens who had been continuously present in this country for 7 years and extend rights to those who have been deported or are being removed.

BROWN'S "BLACKOUT" IN OAKLAND: After four months in office, Oakland mayor Jerry Brown's controversial decisions, including firing a popular black chief of police, has people questioning the wisdom of the newly-passed "strong mayor" measure.

Writing in the Final Call (Chicago), David Muhammad sees Brown as part of the trend toward diminishing African American political clout. "Following New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and others, Oakland is the latest city to have lost a Black mayor to a white mayor," writes Muhammad. He notes that black representation on the city council, school board, and state legislature have dropped as well.

MUSLIM CLOUT GROWING: The country's seven million Muslims are poised politically and socially to achieve new heights.

In the ten years since the American Muslim Council (AMC) was founded, Muslims have made substantial progress in the political arena and have begun to influence policy according to AMC president Dr. Nazir Khaja, in a report in the Final Call (Chicago). Hundreds of AMC members convened in Washington recently for a White House briefing and meetings with Members of Congress.

Last October, Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act establishing a nine member commission to monitor and address violations of religious liberty around the world. When none of the six commissioners chosen by Congressional leaders was Muslim, the AMC urged President Clinton to correct the imbalance. Clinton named Dr. Laila al-Marayati, the co-founder of the Muslim Women's League in Los Angeles, to the Commission.