President Clinton said today that reported political campaign contributions from China to the Democrats had not influenced his foreign policy, but he welcomed further investigation into decisions that made it easier for China to launch American satellites and possibly obtain sensitive technology.
The decisions we made, we made because we thought they were in the interests of the American people, Mr. Clinton said, responding for the first time to reports that a Democratic Party fund-raiser told Federal investigators of funneling thousands of dollars from a Chinese military officer in the President's 1996 re-election campaign. Mr. Clinton, speaking at the end of an economic meeting in Birmingham, England, said he would determine the substance of the charges before deciding whether they would affect policy toward the Chinese Government.
In any case, I think the investigation ought to proceed, he said, and then whatever the facts are, we'll take appropriate action at that time. Mr. Clinton is planning to visit China next month.
The Justice Department's campaign finance task force is investigating whether political contributions influenced the Administration's 1996 decision to reverse a State Department policy that had categorized satellites as munitions, making it more difficult to export them for launching aboard Chinese rockets.
In addition, several Congressional committees are looking into whether the Administration's policy shift on exporting satellite technology helped China and other countries develop and use nuclear missiles.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Johnny Chung, the former fund-raiser, had told Federal investigators that a large part of the nearly $100,000 he gave the Democrats in the 1996 campaign came from China's People's Liberation Army through Liu Chaoying, a Chinese lieutenant colonel and aerospace executive. The Democratic National Committee subsequently returned the money to Mr. Chung, who began cooperating with investigators after he pleaded guilty in March to campaign-related bank and tax fraud.
Congressional Republican leaders have accused the Administration of being influenced by American aerospace manufacturers, citing Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman of Loral Space and Communications, who gave more than $600,000 to the Democratic Party, making him the single largest personal donor.
The Administration's decision to waive sanctions and ease the export control process allowed Loral and another aerospace company, the Hughes Electronic Corporation, to export satellites to be launched atop Chinese rockets.
In his remarks today, Mr. Clinton did not directly mention the policy on satellites. But he suggested that the decision to move the authority for exporting the devices from the State Department to the Commerce Department was unanimous within his Administration.
'''The Administration's decision to reverse State Department policy drew concerned comments today from a leading Democrat.
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Administration's policy switch was serious stuff. Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Senator Biden said any correlation of quid pro quo linking campaign contributions to a shift in national security policy should be ferreted out.'''
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/18/us/clinton-says-chinese-money-did-not-influence-us-policy.html