Larry,
Read the last paragraph of this article. What this article does not say is that Clinton and the Chinese General in charge on the other end is supposed to have agreed as to where the blame would be placed if they were discovered.
Wiretap Reveals Link Between Chinese Weapons Acquisition, Illegal Campaign Financing
3.43 p.m. ET (1943 GMT) May 23, 1999 By Carl Cameron
WASHINGTON — Documents obtained by Fox News show for the first time a connection between China's illegal contributions to President Clinton's re-election campaign and Beijing's attempts to acquire U.S. military technology. The evidence also indicates that China had an elaborate effort to obstruct investigations into both.
Mark Wilson/Reuters
Chung thought receiving money from Chinese intelligence would be a problem; FBI tapes show Luu wanted to conceal something else
At the center of the investigations is Johnny Chung, a former Democratic fund-raiser who recently told Congress he felt pressured to keep silent about taking money from Chinese spies to be used for the Clinton campaign. Chung had received $300,000 from the head of Chinese military intelligence after meeting with Liu Chaoying, a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army.
When Chung was eventually charged, he was contacted by Robert Luu — who according to documents obtained by Fox News was operating on behalf of Chinese intelligence.
Luu gave Chung orders: Above all protect Loral Space and Hughes Electronics, U.S. satellite firms whose business deals with China were arranged by Liu Chaoying, who also heads China Aerospace, the state-owned firm that lofts satellites into orbit.
Loral and Hughes, which regularly launch their satellites on Chinese rockets via China Aerospace, are under federal investigation for — and accused in a forthcoming congressional report of — helping China improve its missile technology.
While Chung thought receiving money from Chinese intelligence would be the biggest problem, FBI surveillance tapes show Luu was more interested in concealing something else.
"All those things are not important," Luu told Chung in a wiretap transcript obtained by Fox News. "The important part is not to touch Hughes and Loral. ... Matters about Hughes and Loral ... they (Chinese superiors) don't want to see any information that is disadvantageous to them."
Chung agreed to wear a body wire and cooperate with investigators, who grilled Luu for spying. An FBI agent says in the transcript: "You only want to meet him (Chung) in places where the CIA cannot enter, you're giving codes."
Luu: "Oh yeah, that's right."
FBI: "That sounds like spy work to me."
Luu: "Yeah, that's, uh, you know."
FBI "It's very, very, typical of what a spy, spy-like activities."
Luu: "Yeah sounds like spy, spies, yeah."
Hundreds of pages of transcripts of wiretaps and interrogation show that Chinese intelligence tried repeatedly to derail the Justice Department investigation. Chinese intelligence even came up with a cover story: The illegal contributions were to be blamed on so-called Chinese princelings.
Princelings are the grown sons of Chinese military leaders who work and study in the West. The idea apparently was to say the illegal contributions had nothing to to do with the people in charge back in Beijing but were the irresponsible and unauthorized acts of their wayward offspring.
Posted for discussion and educational purposes only. Not for commercial use.
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