European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday july 16, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 9flood-hit China braces for More rain Nanjing China apr floods that have killed about 1,700 people threatened new areas monday. At the same time tens of thousands of marooned peasants a homeless and threatened by disease a were living on emergency Relief supplies. Nearly two months of heavy Rains in Eastern China have caused some of the nations worst flooding this Century leaving at least 2 million people homeless. With a break in the rain sunday Crews in towns and villages throughout the Chang River Valley a formerly called the Yangtze a used rocks and sandbags to bolster dikes to hold Back rising Waters that have destroyed crops Railroad lines and buildings. The dikes were built up Over the centuries in most places. As riverbeds Rose from silting peasants raised the dikes until the dikes a and Rivers a towered Over the surrounding Countryside. A a there a nowhere to move the people. There a water everywhere a said Yin Tingmo a local official in Lithe a farming Region near Nanjing. A Rise in the Chang and Chu Rivers could threaten Many of the 42,000 refugees in makeshift tents on strips of land poking Only a few feet above the floodwaters. The 15-foot-wide embankment crowded with refugees was the Only Day land left for several Miles since Flash floods last week. Two thirds of a Lithe county a Farmland was flooded. 1 villagers piled their few possessions in tents made from Bamboo poles and plastic sheets. Some had carried tables or cabinets on their backs As they fled the water. Others saved bicycles chickens or pigs. Few had salvaged any food and Relief workers brought boatloads of biscuits and soda water sunday. The villagers mostly Barefoot and mud spattered clustered around for the supplies. Many have fallen ill with diarrhoea and skin infections from Lack of clean water and poor sanitation said army or. Lining who was performing checkups sunday. The Industrial cities of Nanjing Zhen Jiang Hangzhou Suzhou and Shanghai All raised barriers in recent Days preparing for the Chang River a asians longest japanese teen shuns Amagasaki Japan apr Masato Tamaki was sure he would get into High school. He did Well on the Entrance exam and had shown he could handle Junior High despite being confined to a wheelchair. Tamaki who has muscular dystrophy did no to make it and he is fighting Back by suing the Amagasaki municipal High school in a Case that has focused attention on the plight of the handicapped in Japan. Conservative estimates put the number of handicapped people at 5 million or 4 percent of the population but they Are rarely seen in Public. Busy intersections can be crossed Only on pedestrian Bridges and most railway stations have no ramps or elevators. A the handicapped and the non handicapped cannot understand each other unless they come into Contact with each other a Tamaki 15, said in an interview at his Home outside Osaka the nations second largest City. A i done to understand Why i should be deprived of such opportunities. In a confident that ill be Able to keep up with other  another Factor May be the traditional japanese concept of a shame a which causes a person with physical or mental handicaps to be embarrassed and less Likely to participate in society. That stigma is slowly fading. There have been some attempts to improve things for the handicapped but results have been mixed. Labor ministry surveys show that Many companies do not meet government standards requiring that handicapped people make up at least 1.6 percent of employees. A japanese in general Lack understanding and consideration toward minorities a said Ichiro Maruyama of the National Council of social welfare. A it probably will help if regular schools accept handicapped children so non handicapped children can grow up with  he said the a notion of a separate but equal still prevails among Many japanese when it comes to the handicapped. In the suit filed june 19, Tamaki and his parents claim the school and municipal government violated his constitutional right to equal Opportunity in education. A subsequent statement by the principal Hiroaki Kizu acknowledged that Tamaki passed the Entrance exam but said school officials believed he could not satisfy such course requirements As physical education. Tamakia a father Yoshihiko noted that his son fun a to reach a new Crest. However the River a Crest passed Nanjing the capital of i angst province without causing significant new flooding and headed for Zhenjiang the next major City downstream. There was no substantial new rainfall but new storms hit Hubei and Hunan provinces in Central China Guichou province in the South and the a axing an Ling Forest in the Northeast the China daily newspaper said. Authorities were unable to provide a comprehensive death toll but partial figures published by the China daily brought the figure to at least 1,697. Chinese casualty counts Are rarely Complete due in part to poor communication with disaster stricken areas s shame fifteen year old Masato Tamaki plays with his personal computer while his father Yoshihiko watches. Toned Well in Junior High where officials made special arrangements a making sure for instance that his homeroom was on the ground floor. The boy has no trouble speaking and has full use of his hands which Are often at work on his personal computer. Tsutomu Nishizawa a teacher at the Junior High said friends helped Tamaki get from one classroom to another. Tamaki was in the top 10 percent of his class academically and his schoolmates have become More considerate of handicapped people Nishizawa said. Nonetheless Kizu suggested in his statement that Tamaki attend a special school for the handicapped which his father described As merely a vocational school. A special schools Are needed for certain handicapped children depending on the seriousness of their handicaps a said the father business manager of a trading firm. A but my son wants to study along with his friends at a regular school. A it is important for him to study along and compete with non handicapped students. It is a reality of life he will have to face the rest of his  Yoshinori Haku of the education ministry said it was not against integrated education for handicapped students but would not intervene in Tamakia Scase. He said the ministry pays to build ramps and modify washrooms for the handicapped when schools request them. But Haku acknowledged that it does not promote integration or seek to equip All schools with such  sign up to fight Kuwait Oil Well fires Kuwait apr chinese companies will join american and Canadian companies in putting out Oil Well fires started by the iraqis before they pulled out of Kuwait. A contract for the work was signed sunday at the end of chinese prime minister i Peng a visit to the emirate the first by a chinese Premier. Kuwait was the last Stop on lies six nation Middle East tour which also took him to Egypt Jordan Iran saudi Arabia and Syria. He arrived sunday with a delegation of High ranking officials to discuss bilateral relations and his country a role in rebuilding Kuwait. On his tour i has supported a  plan to control arms sales in the mid dle East. But he has insisted that China the fifth largest arms seller in the world will accept Only a comprehensive plan that would include All countries in the Region. The United states has already promised to sell advanced combat jets to saudi Arabia and its neighbors and to continue weapons sales to Israel. The chinese will Start their six month Effort to fight the fires in mid August according to the agreement. A we Are certain that China possesses Good technologies for the Job a said kuwaiti Oil minister Ham pud Al Ruba after signing the contract with the chinese minister of foreign and economic affairs i Landing. I Peng met with the Emir Sheik Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah the prime minister Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Salem Al Sabah and the Deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Sheik Salim Al Sabah Al Salim Al Sabah. Six american companies and one Canadian company Are working on putting out and capping More than 700 burning Oil Wells that were ignited. Ruba said 213 Well fires have been extinguished and he expects most of the fires to be controlled by March. A Kuwait is producing 120,000 barrels of Oil per Day in addition to half the production of the Neutral zone we share with saudi Arabia a Ruba said. The Neutral zone produces about 130,000 barrels a Day. Ruba said the chinese team will be working on part of the greater Burgh an Field. The chinese said about 53 people will be working on the fires when their equipment arrives next month. Ruba said negotiations with Iran on joining the Effort were in their final stages. He said about 1,000 people would be working on the fires when contracts Are signed with the iranians British French soviets and romanians. We Jian min a spokesman for the chinese ministry of foreign affairs said the Emir has accepted an invitation to visit China