MISSOURI COMMENTARY: CHINA'S LONG INTEREST IN U.S. POLITICS

Let's be clear: It is against federal law for candidates or political parties to accept money from foreign governments. It's undebatably evil to so do. Individuals who agree or conspire to do so should go to jail. All we need now is for the FBI to find the proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

We should also remember that the United States government has engaged in precisely the same activity in innumerable foreign elections. In Central America, South America, Europe and Asia, we have used government funds to seek electoral results in pursuit of our own foreign policy objectives. In El Salvador, Chile, Italy, Greece, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, South Korea -- to name but a few -- the U.S. treasury was used to influence local elections.

Today's People's Republic would not be the first China to mess around in American politics. The Republic of China of Generalissimo Chaing Kai-shek was actively involved in attempting to shape U.S. military and foreign policy, both before and after its removal to Taiwan, through its embassy in Washington and its U.N. delegation in New York.

During World War II, the Nationalist Chinese objective was to squeeze as much money and military equipment as it could obtain from Washington. After the war the quest was more of the same with an additional push to keep the U.S. away from Mao Tse-tung's Chinese Communists and to deter U.S. mediation efforts in search of a Chinese coalition government. After Chaing was pushed off the mainland in 1949, the strategy was to keep the U.S. from recognizing the PRC and to keep the PRC out of the United Nations.

The "China Lobby" grew up in the wake of the "loss" of China to the Reds. The Lobby was a conglomeration of persons and organizations that were interested in China and that had the financial wherewithal to lobby in Washington and carry on public relations campaigns.

The China Lobby in America worked with two of China's wealthiest individuals, T.V. Soong and H.H. Kung. Both of these men had held high positions in the Nationalist government and were related to Madame Chaing Kai-shek. Nationalist Chinese Ambassadors Wellington Koo and later Tingfu Tsiang were active in strategy and policy formulation for the China Lobby.

Although the focus of the Lobby was China, the frame of reference was American politics. The most noteworthy American spokesmen were Sen. William Knowland (R-Calif.), Rep. Walter Judd (R-Minn.), Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.), Sen. Paul Douglas (D-Ill.) and Henry Luce of TIME magazine.

Douglas, as a liberal and a Democrat, was important to the movement. His presence gave the China Lobby a sense of bipartisanship. But there was a price to be paid for including Douglas in the act. He constantly asked where the money was coming from, who were the donors, was any of it foreign money? Answers to these questions were never fully forthcoming. When Douglas "resigned" from the Lobby in 1960, no Democrat of stature would replace him.

No records have been found indicating a direct transfer of funds of Nationalist China to members of Congress. However, there is abundant evidence that the Nationalist government paid for the Lobby's travel expenses, dinners, public relation expenses -- passing money directly on to suppliers of services.

An examination of the Lobby's files in 1961 revealed a series of communications between the Lobby and Chaing Kai-shek's ambassador to the U.N. spelling out in detail the financing of the Lobby's work by the Nationalist government.

In more contemporary times, the government of Taiwan has spared no effort to cement relations with the United States. For example, it helps fund the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington and sends a delegation from Taiwan expecting the meet the President and Congressional leaders. It bestows mountains of gifts on American politically-related visitors to Taiwan. It's our "pragmatic diplomacy of survival," says the leader of the Kuomintang party.

Taiwan promotes junkets for Congressional staffers. Through the years, hundreds and hundreds of Congressional staff members have junketed to Taiwan courtesy of the government and its front organizations. Amongst others, John Huang and Ed Meese have received free trips to Taiwan. Huang made it his business to escort both People's Republic and Taiwanese fat cats to Democratic political functions in 1996.

The China Lobby, like Ol' Man River, just keeps rollin' along.

~Tom Eagleton of St. Louis is a former U.S. senator from Missouri.