The lawsuit in question is only a fishing expedition by a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, that has been trying for years to expose the political activities of the U.S. Commerce Department during the tenure of the late Ron Brown. But the political implications are obvious and troubling: Brown himself was a former chairman of the DNC, and Huang, who got a top-level Commerce job in 1994, moved over to the DNC as a party fund raiser just in time for the ‘96 campaign. Because of his ties to the Chinese-American community–he was a member of the DNC’s Asian Pacific American advisory council–Huang was spectacularly good at raising money. By the DNC’s own tally, Huang orchestrated an effort that tapped Asian-American donors for nearly $5 million for the Clinton campaign. One of those contributions–$250,000 from Cheong Am, a Korean manufacturing firm–was clearly illegal, and the DNC has been forced to return it. Others, like the $140,000 donated in part by presumably penniless monks and nuns during a fund-raiser attended by Al Gore, could raise serious legal issues; the DNC refunded $15,000 from the Buddhist bash. At the DNC’s request, the Federal Elections Commission will investigate–and Huang is the only man who can answer the questions. ““All they [the DNC] are doing is trying to push this back until after the election,’’ a nervous White House staffer said. ““And then we’ll all watch it blow up.’'
It might–and if it does, the resulting explosion may well reveal the changing nature of the Taiwanese connection to U.S. politics. Taiwan has been a Republican cause since the days of Chiang Kai-shek and Clare Booth Luce. But the old days are over, and the Taiwanese, who worry whether they will be next on Beijing’s agenda, have every reason to look for American support. Huang seems to have capitalized on that anxiety. Born on the mainland but educated on Taiwan (he also got a degree from the University of Connecticut), Huang now lives in Glendale, Calif. He got a political appointment to Commerce in 1994 and became Ron Brown’s special emissary to Taiwan. Department officials say he made three trips to the island to hobnob with Taiwanese businessmen. In May 1996, Huang was back in Taiwan again–this time on a political fund-raising trip paid for by the DNC. Party spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe said Huang was ““prospecting’’ for donors among U.S. citizens and resident aliens on the island. The trip coincided with President Lee Teng-Hui’s inauguration, and Huang joined a group of American guests that included Vernon Jordan and James C. Wood, an Arkansas lawyer appointed by Clinton as chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan.
NEWSWEEK has learned that senior Taiwan officials have privately complained that Wood pressured Taiwan businessmen for contributions to Clinton’s re-election drive–and that the State Department’s inspector general has received reports that at least one Taiwan entrepreneur tried to deliver cash to someone he thought represented the campaign. As NEWSWEEK’S sources told it, Wood told Taiwan businessmen Clinton deserved to be ““rewarded’’ for granting a U.S. visitor’s visa to President Lee–then steered them to Huang. According to Nat Bellocchi, Wood’s predecessor at the institute, Taiwan officials and prominent businessmen were ““disturbed by the methods being used to obtain political funds for the U.S. election campaign.’’ Wood flatly denied the charge to NEWSWEEK last week, insisting that he only sought ““a level playing field’’ for American businesses. But he acknowledged that his remarks about Taiwan’s debt to Clinton could have been misinterpreted. Asked whether he ever suggested that Taiwan businessmen get in touch with Huang to make political contributions, Wood replied that ““that could have happened’’–then added he ““couldn’t recall’’ if it actually did.
Just what, if anything, is illegal in all of this remains to be seen: though foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to U.S. political campaigns, donations from naturalized citizens and those who hold permanent-resident visas are perfectly legitimate. But the dollar amounts aren’t trivial, and the policy stakes are large. The Taiwan connection may help force the campaign reform Clinton says he wants. But in the meantime, the DNC probably wishes Huang would disappear.
