Dole Hopes For Super Tuesday Sweep

WASHINGTON, D.C.: While Bob Dole can all but wrap up the GOP presidential nomination by sweeping today's Super Tuesday primaries, influential Republicans are urging his top two rivals to drop out of the race. Dole has already amassed 392 delegates -- more than a third of the way to the 996 needed to clinch the nomination -- and is expected to win a majority of the 362 delegates at stake today. Although Dole said he thinks he will win the nomination, he would not press Pat Buchanan or Steve Forbes to drop out of the race. "I've never been very good at putting pressure on people. There will come a time when someone needs to reach out to both of the remaining candidates." House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman think that time has already come. Whitman, a longtime friend of Forbes, said his flat-tax plan would have a better chance of being a part of the GOP platform if Forbes would withdraw from the race. Gingrich said Buchanan is only hurting himself be remaining in the race. "The longer Pat campaigns, the less effect he's going to have. He's made his point. People understand his message. Now it's time to be part of the team." For their part, Buchanan and Forbes vowed to stay in the campaign until the convention.U.S. Seeks Peaceful Resolution In TaiwanTAIPEI, TAIWAN: Even as the United States dispatched two warships to waters near Taiwan, officials predicted the crisis with China would end peacefully. Defense Secretary Perry said the ships were sent as a "prudent, cautionary measure" and he didn't think China would invade the island. China has started eight days of war games in a 6,600-square-mile area which stretches to the mid-point of the Taiwan Strait - an unofficial border between the two sides. Taiwanese officials have heightened military alert in response to China's maneuver. China is trying to intimidate Taiwanese from voting for President Lee Teng-hui in elections later this month. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and Beijing is convinced Lee is seeking to make the island independent. There were peace overtures between the two sides last year, but Lee's visit to the United States renewed fears in Beijing that Taiwan was pushing for independence. TIME correspondent Jaime A. FlorCruz says China is particularly concerned with what it calls Taiwan's "ambition to spend money to earn a ticket to the United Nations." FlorCruz predicts the two sides can reach a peaceful agreement. "If Taiwan takes the initiative to resume talks on opening sea links to China, that could begin the thawing process."Clinton Heads To Egypt