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.

CULTURE MATTERS: The bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade continues to be the hot-button on the China-U.S. watch. The World Journal (San Francisco) put the situation in context quoting recent statements by noted Harvard Professor Ezra Vogel, who said that the bombing was neither intentional nor an accident.

"These remarks, one might say, come closer to how Chinese think and feel about America." Vogel was not so much concerned with the recent mistakes but "had more long-range ideas in mind about Sino-American relations and how America should handle its problems with China. He said that the two countries' national psychologies are very different... each with its own unique cultural roots."

As an example, "When Clinton offered an apology to the Chinese people for the bombing he was dressed in casual clothes. In Chinese eyes that meant Clinton was not sincere in his apology. "

It is true the Beijing government used the media to whip up anger against the U.S. -- however the rage of ordinary Chinese is real.

"People in China have good reason to be furious. They not only are dissatisfied with America's 'mistake' excuse but even more so that the U.S. government made no effort to deal with their feelings and suspicions."

The article went on to point out that "China still is a half-closed society. There still isn't much regular political participation and community social activism. Any kind of mass movement that allows emotional outpouring will therefore get a lot of heated participation and response. . . . "

All this can turn ugly. This is why China demanded the U.S. make an apology to the Chinese people, carry out a thorough investigation, publish the results and punish the main perpetrators. Explaining the bombing as an accident "in no way fulfills their four conditions."

In conclusion, the article states, "both Washington and Beijing have indicated they want to restore normal relations. For the last year they have looked at each other with angry eyes. Yet both feel the embassy bombing incident will pass. In the key U.N. vote on Kosovo the Chinese abstained.

"However even as the U.S. keeps singing its high-minded tunes it also will have to pay attention to the finer cultural factors Professor Vogel talked about."

WHAT? NO DOCS?: The shortage of doctors in the Latino community creates a situation rivaling that of the third world, according to an article in La Prensa, San Diego.

A report by the UCLA School of Medicine and the California Latino Medical Assn. says that there are 2,893 Latino Californians for every Latino physician in the state -- a worse population to physician ratio than all of Latin America. The ratio for non-Latino Californians is 335 to 1.

"These figures clearly demonstrate that Latino physicians are greatly underrepresented in the state," said David E. Hayes-Bautista, a professor of medicine at UCLA. "This is the direct result of the lack of access to higher education and the medical profession that Latinos face."

The study found that only 4.8 percent of all licensed physicians in the state -- where Latinos comprise 30.4 percent of the population -- are Latino.

VIETNAM GROWING: Of the 15 countries considered for the United Nations award for population control in 1999, Vietnam emerged the winner. (Calitoday, San Jose) The growth rate has gone down from 3% to 2.2%, said Tran Thi Trung Chien, the country's Minister of Family Planning and Population Growth. Vietnam now has about 79 million people, and if each family has 2 children or less, the population will reach 140-145 million in 50 years.

BILINGUAL NOT DEAD: For the first time, the federal government is stepping in to fund a teacher training program for bilingual instruction in California, reports La Opinion (Los Angeles). The Department of Education will earmark $21 million to help school districts and universities recruit bilingual teachers and train monolingual instructors -- a response to the finding that mostly Anglo monolingual teachers were found to be instructing students who don't speak English.

Nationally, the number of students with limited English (Limited English Proficient, or LEP) rose from 2.1 million to 3.5 million between 1990 and 1997. While 62 percent of California students in public schools are identified as minorities, only 22.4 percent of teachers are so identified.

JUNETEENTH REMEMBERED: The specialness of June 19th was remembered in an editorial in the San Francisco Bay View. "Juneteenth is the holiday declared by Black people in Texas when informed of the proclamation by President Abe Lincoln that set them free," wrote editor Willie Ratcliff. "When I was growing up in East Texas, nobody worked on the 19th of June. It was a Black holiday respected by Whites.

"We celebrate Juneteenth, however, not as an accomplishment, but as a goal... "This nation is still paying a heavy price for excluding African Americans from its economic system. It has created a collision course between people of color with our increasing demands and Whites, now the minority, who try to ignore us at best.

"Let Juneteenth remind us that freedom must be demanded by those who suffer economic and political injustice. We haven't made it yet."

CALL FOR EQUALITY: Los Angeles residents took to the streets to demand "equal treatment" for all Central Americans.

The marchers expressed support for the a bill by Congressman Luis Guiterrez that, if approved, would modify the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, granting amnesty to Nicaraguans and Cubans who fled left wing governments but not Salvadorans and Hondurans fleeing right wing governments (La Opinion, Los Angeles).

"It's not fair that they've treated us differently," said Armando Merida, a native of Guatemala, and L.A. resident. "We've all come here because of the problems over there... because of war and economic reasons."