[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           CHINA CONNECTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend a lot of people have been 
calling for hearings on the emerging China scandal. I come to the well 
this afternoon to rise in support of the New York Times editorial on 
Sunday entitled, ``The New China Connection'', that calls for the 
appointment of a special prosecutor. I thought my colleagues should 
hear what the Times wrote:

       All the disclosures about Johnny Chung, other contributors 
     and their links to China make it clearer than ever that the 
     Attorney General Reno needs to transfer the Justice 
     Department's investigation to an independent counsel. The 
     White House was intensely involved in fund-raising at the 
     highest levels, and only an inquiry led by someone other than 
     a political appointee of the President will satisfy the 
     public.

  Mr. Speaker, this is a major concession by The New York Times, and I 
thought I would call it to my colleagues' attention. These calls for an 
independent prosecutor come on the heels of groundbreaking and 
explosive reporting by the Times' investigative journalist, Jeff Gerth.

                              {time}  1045

  Mr. Gerth reported on Friday, May 15, that Johnny Chung has admitted 
that a large portion of the money he raised for the Democrats 
originated with the People's Liberation Army, the PLA, of China. Mr. 
Speaker, this is a communist military party. Mr. Chung has identified 
the conduit of the illegal campaign funds as a Chinese aerospace 
executive and Chinese Lieutenant Colonel Liu Chaoing, who just happens 
to be the daughter of General Liu Huaquing, who just happened to be at 
that time China's most senior and top-ranked military commander in the 
PLA.
  Mr. Speaker, General Liu was also a member of the top leadership of 
China's Communist Party as he served as a member of the Standing 
Committee, the very top circle of political leadership in China. 
General Liu was also vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military 
Commission and was in charge of China's drive to modernize the People's 
Liberation Army by selling weapons to other countries and using the 
hard currency to acquire Western technology.
  Newsweek goes on to point out that the latest scandal, in their May 
25 issue entitled ``A Strange Brew,'' is also very revealing. It 
appears on July 19, 1996, Colonel Liu, the daughter of General Liu, 
arrived at the Los Angeles home of financier Eli Broad, shook the 
President's hand, had her picture taken with him. Ms. Liu, accompanied 
by fund-raiser Johnny Chung, is known to have attended a military 
institute in China used for counterintelligence training.
  What Liu did a week after meeting the President is even more 
interesting. She signed papers incorporating a company in California 
called Marswell Institute. She and Chung were the only listed 
directors. U.S. intelligence sources say Marswell is an affiliate of a 
similarly named firm in Hong Kong, which shares ownership with yet 
another company they describe as a ``front'' for the ``general 
political department'' of the PLA.
  Mr. Speaker, what were China and the Chinese military leaders after? 
There is some evidence that what they were after was a change in U.S. 
satellite export policy that made it easier for China to use their 
missiles to launch American satellites, which also allowed China to 
further improve their missile capabilities. This same missile 
technology can be used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, which 
China now has fixed nuclear targets on.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor this afternoon to echo the 
comments from the Sunday editorial from The New York Times. It is time 
for Attorney General Reno to transfer the department's investigation 
out of their department into an independent counsel, and I ask her to 
do it promptly.

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