To: American Spirit who wrote (13951 ) 8/28/2007 8:36:58 PM From: Ann Corrigan Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 224729 Clinton charged with accepting campaign contributions from China By Michael Smith, 19 May 1998 Members of congress have charged that the Clinton administration agreed to reverse US policy on the export of satellite technology to China after receiving large campaign contributions from the Chinese government itself. The US Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation of possible Chinese government efforts to influence the 1996 presidential and congressional elections, including funneling contributions into the campaigns of particular candidates, among them Clinton. An aspect of the most recent revelation bears examination: the reported testimony of Johnny Chung, a Taiwanese-American businessman who gave a total of $366,000 to Democratic Party campaigns in 1996. The issue was a US government policy, enacted after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, which limited exports of satellite technology to China and required a specific presidential decision to permit the sale of that technology to the Chinese government. The campaign contributions were not in vain. In February 1996 Clinton gave approval to four launches of US-built satellites using Chinese Long March missiles. A month later the authority over such deals was transferred from the State Department, which had opposed the launch approval, to the Commerce Department. The China connection Johnny Chung is a Los Angeles businessman who fled to China last year to avoid a subpoena, then returned to the United States earlier this year. Chung pled guilty in March to charges of bank and tax fraud related to his activities in laundering campaign contributions to the Democratic Party. While he was the nominal donor, he was serving as a front man for foreign contributors who could not legally give money to an American election campaign. Charges have been made that the Clinton administration sold out US national security in return for campaign contributions, giving China access to technology which will be used to improve the targeting of Chinese nuclear weapons against the United States.