Cartoonists Travel the Road to Indonesia

Nothing binds--or divides--the nations of the Pacific Rim more than the issue of trade, and President Clinton’s trip last week to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Indonesia, stirred the pot once again.

Leaders of 18 nations set a far-distant target date--the year 2020--to dismantle all trade barriers along the Pacific shores, and even that agreement proved a struggle.

Nevertheless, the President declared the policy goal “good news,” and trade experts commented that any agreement among such a diverse group of countries was an achievement.

Editorial cartoonists, as usual, got in the parting shots, suggesting that the American President was dealing from a difficult position when it came to getting the booming Asian economies into harness on common goals.