Emperor Clinton takes entire White House with him to China

Plus an undisclosed number of giant C-141 transport planes which have already ferried the modern version of a dozen caparisoned elephants — armoured, bullet-proof limousines — and 60 tonnes of communication equipment, not to speak of food, wine and water to last them through four Chinese cities in nine days.

In fact, it is such a titanic journey that one advance agent was quoted as saying the White House wasmoving to China. In hackdom, the joke is everyone who is anyone in Washington is leaving — except Monica Lewinsky and Ken Starr.

Even the normally dour Chinese joined in the ribbing. “Rumours that he is bringing all his own furniture from the United States aren’t true at all,” a Chinese spokesman in Beijing gagged in the New York Times.

Not all maybe, but certainly some furniture is going. Clinton is taking along his bullet-proof lectern, dubbed the Blue Goose, from which he speechifies with his trademark side-to-side tennis match looks. Another permanent fixture — his personal aide Kris Engskov — is also going.

While on Blue Goose, even National Geographic is joining in the fun. The hoary glossy has announced the discovery of Chinese dinosaur, complete with downy feathers. Apparently, the latest dig-out further cements the link between dinosaurs and birds.

But it’s a different species which really takes the cake. Of the estimated 1,200 people heading out to China, journalists make upnearly a quarter — 375, according to the logs. That includes Geraldo Rivera, an NBC talk show host who once had his nose broken in an on-air fight.

It’s the biggest press party to accompany anyone anywhere anytime (with the sole exception, as someone pointed out, of reporters trailing Michael Jordan to a basketball game). From Time Inc to MSNBC.com, they represent a fascinating array of news outlets reflecting the growth of the media over the last few years.

That expansion is evident in the almost exponential increase in numbers that accompanied other US Presidents on their China visits. Only 87 journalists were accredited to cover Richard Nixon’s historic 1972 visit. The number grew to 170 when Gerald Ford went there in 1975 and to 260 by the time Ronald Reagan visited in 1984.

The Clinton press party is so large that just the White House is detailing five press aides to Press Secretary Mike McCurry to handle queries. Plus an assortment of researchers and librarians have been commandeered from theUSIA to help with research, background, sidelights and highlights.Of course, India can take some cold comfort in the numbers. Clinton’s contingent to travel with him on his India leg of his visit to the sub-continent had already reached 800 before the trip was derailed by the recent nuclear tests.

Officials say it is typical of Presidential tours these days, when governance and diplomacy is far more complicated than in 1972 when President Nixon struck his deal with China with a team of just 34 — out of whom Henry Kissinger possibly accounted for half.

Even on domestic soirees, Clinton often travels with a team of 400.The party of 1,200 includes aides and assistants to half a dozen Clinton Cabinet members who are accompanying the President.

Among them, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Commerce Secretary William Daley, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, and United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky — not to forget First Lady Hillary Clinton andtheFirst Couple’s daughter Chelsea Clinton.

The joke goes that the only reason Vice-President Al Gore isn’t on the trip is because someone has to stay back to collect campaign donations.

Visit begins with a rebuff

United States President Bill Clinton began his historic visit to China on Wednesday with a rebuff to Beijing by giving an exclusive interview to US-based radio Free Asia, three of whose journalists were denied visas by the Communist country to cover his tour.Clinton also demanded that Beijing reissue the visas. “I think they made a mistake,” Clinton told mediapersons, referring to China’s surprise move debarring the journalists from entering Beijing. The scribes work for the US-Government-funded group that broadcasts into China against the wishes of the Chinese Government..