French newspapers were less forgiving. In France, as in many other countries, the intimate lives of politicians are not newspaper fodder. Early on in the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, many French people considered the issue a private one. Former French President Francois Mitterrand had a wife, a lover and out of wedlock daughter born before he became president - an open secret. Despite the official silence, Chinese leaders and foreign policy experts expressed concern that the crisis might imperil the rapprochement Clinton and President Jiang Zemin symbolized in their recent summit in Beijing.
China is very concerned.
Russian media carried scant word of the events in Washington, concentrating instead on the ongoing political and economic crisis at home. Likewise in Malaysia, papers focused on the government's own sex scandal involving its sacked deputy prime minister, and frantic preparations for Friday night's opening ceremonies of the 16th Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. And in Indonesia, many people questioned in downtown Jakarta said they were unaware of the Washington scandal, which their newspapers mostly ignored Friday, devoting attention instead to Indonesia's worst economic crisis in 30 years. Copyright 1999 Associated Press . All rights reserved.