Report Claims Chinese Money Used In '96 Elections
Conservative News Service
23 June, 1998 Scott Hogenson
(CNS) - Advance copies of the publication Far Eastern Economic Review report that investigators with the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee say they have evidence that shows Chinese money was injected into the 1996 elections.
The report, due for release later this week, quotes committee sources as saying the Chinese money came in the form of a $3,000 check written by the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, payable to Ted Sioeng, an Indonesian businessman who gave $400,000 to the Democratic National Committee during the 1996 election cycle.
The check from the Chinese consulate, according to the report, was a partial reimbursement for a $5,000 contribution by Sioeng to the campaign of Daniel Wong, who was an unsuccessful candidate for the California legislature in 1996.
Committee investigators also said the FBI intercepted telephone calls from the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, and that those calls mentioned Sioeng by name in connection with plans to influence American elections. Investigators stopped short of saying that Sioeng acted on orders from the communist government in Beijing, but did say that they can show that Sioeng acted with the approval of the Chinese government.
The release of this information on the eve of President Bill Clinton's departure for a nine-day visit to the People's Republic of China has the potential to increase tensions between Clinton and his communists hosts, who have repeatedly denied any attempt to influence the 1996 elections in the United States.
Investigators are trying to peice together the events surrounding Sioeng's contributions, but visa applications for investigators to meet with Sioeng in Hong Kong have been denied by the Chinese government
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