DONATION SCANDAL FRUSTRATES ASIAN-AMERICANS.

Byline: James Sterngold The New York Times

Asian-Americans organized better than they ever had for the elections in November, and they delivered a majority of their votes to President Clinton, while donating completely legally - perhaps $10 million to his campaign.

In return, they hoped to gain what any politically ambitious group seeks: access and influence, particularly through political appointments.

So far, they have won little other than frustration. Asian-American groups, just as they were building political power commensurate with their rapidly growing numbers and wealth, are now complaining bitterly that they have come under unwarranted suspicion because of improper donations to the Democratic Party by some Chinese and Indonesians.

Many of those concerns have focused on prospects of the Asian-Americans whom the groups had hoped would gain coveted political posts. None of the appointments has been made and several Asian-American advocates say they are growing increasingly anxious that they may be shut out because of a bunker mentality in the White House over the questionable donations.

The deepest worry is that if Clinton does not support some Asian-American candidates he might only encourage what Asian-Americans say is a growing stereotype - that there is no real difference between the wealthy Chinese and Indonesians who may have made improper donations and Asian-Americans who are solid citizens and have played by the rules.

``The worry is that people with my kind of face now feel like they are the last people the president wants to be close to,'' said Bruce L. Ishimatsu, a lawyer and the president of the Asian Pacific Bar of California. ``But the president is the only one who can change the atmosphere, who can say, `This isn't about Asian-Americans.' And he hasn't done that. I just wish someone in a position of power would draw the distinction. Otherwise this just feeds the stereotypes.''

Asked whether the questions involving Asian contributors had harmed Asian-Americans' chances for appointments, Bob Nash, director of presidential personnel in the White House, said no.

``Everyone is cognizant of the news,'' he said. ``But it has not affected us. That would be racist. We are continuing to do as the president said, to create an administration that looks like America.''

One reason Asian-American groups say they have grown so bitter is the way some of their members were questioned by Democratic National Committee auditors after the improper donations from noncitizens began to surface. The auditors contacted donors with Asian surnames who had given large contributions and asked whether they were U.S. citizens and whether the money had come from legitimate sources.

``It makes you feel like a second-class citizen when they look at the color of your skin and your last name and then ask if you're a citizen before they accept your money,'' said Charlie Woo, who is a prominent Chinese-American businessman here, a major Democratic Party donor and the head of a political action committee.

That atmosphere has clearly not helped the prospects for the political appointments, and that is a growing source of bitterness.

``We very much believe that the scandal is the reason why we have not gotten any appointments yet,'' said Thomas Chan, a lawyer here and the former chairman of Chinese Americans Unite for Self Empowerment.

Among the prospects the Asian-American groups had focused their hopes on are Bill Lee, Fred Pang and Chang-Lin Tien.

Pang, a Chinese-American who is assistant secretary of defense for force management policy, is being considered for two high positions, secretary of the Air Force and undersecretary for personnel and readiness, Pentagon sources said. But the atmosphere of suspicion in Washington may have affected his chances.

``If there used to be a push to have more Asian-Americans in the administration and now you have this scandal, does promoting Asian-Americans remain one of your goals?'' asked a senior Defense Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ``Probably not.''

Tien, the well-regarded chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, was promoted in December to be named secretary of energy. That would have made him the first Asian-American to hold a Cabinet post.

But his candidacy was shelved after it was reported that month that he had helped relatives of Mochtar Riady, the Indonesian businessman at the heart of the campaign contribution allegations, gain entry to Berkeley. No accusations of improprieties were made against Tien for what was, essentially, a routine activity, but still there appeared to have been a taint.

Lee is a highly experienced lawyer in Los Angeles with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. He is a candidate for assistant attorney general for civil rights, and several people in the Justice Department said his chances are strong. But Lee has received only tepid support, several people said, from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whose recommendation, as his senator, could be crucial.

Susan Kennedy, a spokeswoman for Feinstein, said that the senator had been asked to write a letter of support and had written one, but that she had never met Lee.