Time: Wed Jul 16 13:13:42 1997
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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 12:53:42 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Democrat Switches; Says he sees Chinese Plot (fwd)
<snip>
>
>The Boston Globe
>July 16, 1997
>
>Democrat switches, says he sees Chinese plot
>
>By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff
>
>WASHINGTON - Senator Joseph I. Lieberman reversed himself yesterday and
>backed his committee chairman, Fred Thompson, by saying FBI officials had
>convinced him the Chinese government plotted to influence American
>political campaigns.
>
>
>
>``I conclude that there was in fact a Chinese government plan to move money
>into America's congressional elections last year with the clear intent to
>affect America's policy toward China,'' said Lieberman, a Connecticut
>Democrat. ``Whether that conclusion can be proven here or in a court of law
>remains to be seen.''
>
>
>
>Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Governmental Affairs
>Committee have been feuding over whether Thompson, a Tennessee Republican,
>went too far in stating that a Chinese plot existed and continues to this
>day. The committee is investigating illegal and improper campaign
>fund-raising associated with the 1996 presidential campaign.
>
>
>
>Yesterday, the panel disclosed evidence that John Huang asked an Indonesian
>conglomerate that he worked for in 1992 to reimburse its American
>subsidiary for a donation to the Democratic National Committee. A DNC
>spokesman said the money would be returned because of committee evidence
>that the money came from a foreign source.
>
>
>
>``Please kindly wire,'' said one memo from Huang and Agus Setiawan to their
>parent corporation, the Lippo Group in Jakarta. The memo asked for $146,500
>to be sent to Hip Hing Holdings Ltd. to cover a $50,000 donation to the
>Democratic National Committee's Victory Fund, operating expenses, salaries
>and car insurance.
>
>
>
>Huang was president of Hip Hing Holdings when he wrote the memo. He later
>became a political appointee at the Commerce Department and then, at
>President Clinton's request, a fund-raiser for the DNC. He is at the heart
>of questions about whether the Chinese government tried to influence
>American elections with illegal contributions because much of the money he
>raised had to be returned because of questions about its origin.
>
>
>
>Republicans on the committee suggested through questioning that, although
>the Lippo Group is based in Indonesia, the Chinese government could have
>carried out its scheme through the giant conglomerate and its American
>subsidiaries because of the conglomerate's Chinese ties.
>
>
>
>Thomas Hampson, a specialist on international business, hired by the
>committee to study the Lippo Group, testified that in the last five years
>the company has moved from sole ownership by the Riady family of Indonesia
>to joint ownership with China Resources, which is owned by the Chinese
>government. Since then, the Lippo Group has increased ties with China and
>has numerous projects on the mainland.
>
>
>
>Hampson also said China Resources not only engages in trade but also is
>used ``as an agent of espionage'' for the Chinese government.
>
>
>
>The committee produced documents, verified by former Hip Hing employee
>Juliana Utomo, that showed the company lost close to a half-million dollars
>in both 1992 and 1993, although it made campaign contributions of $50,000
>in 1992 and $15,000 in 1993. Two other Lippo subsidiaries donated $15,000
>apiece in 1993.
>
>
>
>Under questioning by Alan Baron, the Democrats' chief counsel, Utomo said
>Hip Hing Holdings did make money - even though it had more expenses than
>revenue. In 1992, Hip Hing took in $38,400 and in 1993 it earned $35,200,
>primarily from renting out an empty lot in Los Angeles' Chinatown for
>parking.
>
>
>
>Democrats and Republicans disagreed over whether an American subsidiary of
>a foreign corporation must merely generate revenue in the United States in
>order to legally make political contributions, or whether it must earn a
>profit.
>
>
>
>But Federal Election Commission spokesman Ian Stirton said politcal
>donations made by foreign subsidiaries must come from money generated in
>the United States.
>
>
>
>Lieberman made his statement supporting Thompson's allegations of a Chinese
>plan to influence US elections outside the hearing room, after he and other
>senators had participated in a Monday FBI briefing on the agency's
>investigation into fund-raising abuses.
>
>
>
>``There's reliable evidence that there was such a plan in the Chinese
>government'' to influence American campaigns, Lieberman said. Last week,
>Lieberman said he had not seen such evidence, leading him to ask for the
>FBI briefing. Also last week, Senator John Glenn of Ohio, the ranking
>Democrat on the committee, said he would not go as far as Thompson's
>allegations.
>
>
>
>In a joint statement yesterday from Lieberman and Glenn, the two senators
>said they are in ``absolute agreement'' about the existence of a plan by
>the Chinese to influence US congressional elections.
>
>
>
>``It is not clear from the evidence that the illegal aspects of such a plan
>were ever put into motion,'' their statement said. ``Nor is there
>sufficient information to lead us to conclude that the 1996 presidential
>election was affected by, or even part of, that plan.''
>
>
>
>Nevertheless, Republicans clearly appreciated Lieberman's new public
>stance. ``It lends objective support to what Senator Thompson has been
>saying,'' said Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican.
>
>
>
>Lieberman said it is still unclear whether the Chinese were using
>government money or corporate money to sway American campaigns. But he said
>he had no doubt the government was targeting members of Congress.
>
>
>
>Last year, the FBI warned six members of Congress, including Senator Dianne
>Feinstein, a California Democrat, that China had targeted them to receive
>illegal campaign contributions funneled through foreign corporations.
>
>
>
>Committee investigators are still trying to determine whether Huang may
>have committed economic espionage by passing along classified information
>from the Commerce Department to the Lippo Group in Indonesia, or to China,
>while he was a deputy assistant Commerce secretary.
>
>
>
>Today, the committee is scheduled to hear testimony from CIA official John
>Dickerson, who is expected to testify that Huang saw 300 to 500 pieces of
>raw intelligence data and was briefed repeatedly on China-related matters.
>
>
>
>Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said the committee staff already
>has learned there were more than 400 telephone contacts between Huang and
>people working for various Lippo entities while he worked at the Commerce
>Department. She said that amounts to more than one per business day.
>
>
>
>``To have 400 telephone contacts ... makes me wonder who Mr. Huang was
>really working for during his tenure at the Department of Commerce,'' she
>said.
>
>This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 07/16/97.
>) Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
>
>-> Send "subscribe snetnews " to majordomo@world.std.com
>-> Posted by: kalliste@aci.net (J. Orlin Grabbe)
>
>
>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
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