The China Puzzle, Part 8
by Linda A. Prussen-Razzano

My April 11, 1999 column discusses the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument scam.  If I may, I would ask you to revisit that column, if necessary.

Obviously, the Lippo Group profited nicely; hence, China profited nicely.  Obviously, the American public was, once again, shafted.  Obviously, the President was doing his old friend, Riady, a favor.

What’s not so obvious is the amount of illegal campaign contributions which came directly from foreign representatives, who also had international interests in the area, such as:

• $450,000 from Arief and Soroya Wiriadinata, an Indonesian couple who lived in Washington's Virginia suburbs (and friends of Mr. Riady).  They returned to Indonesia in 1996.
• $325,000 from Yogesh Gandhi, a great-grandnephew of Mahatma Gandhi.
• $250,000 from a South Korean company called Cheong Am America. (Los Angeles Times, “Fund-Raiser Huang Surfaces, Testifies,” Robert L. Jackson, October 30, 1996).

Further, in my April 14, 1999 column concerning the transfer of the Panama Canal, I mentioned that “ominous forces” were already present.

Those ominous forces are none other than the Hutchinson Group, another company that is reportedly controlled by the Communist Chinese.  They currently own ports at both ends of the Canal. Although the 105th Congress stopped the transfer of the Long Beach Naval Station, COSCO is once again attempting to purchase it.  The Long Beach Naval Station happens to be one of the largest ports on the southern tip of California.  If COSCO is successful, COSTIND could effectively ship whatever it wants through its own ports at the Panama Canal and subsequently deliver these goods to U.S. shores without passing through Customs.

 A few more pieces come together? ***

Additional Related Sources:

• H1534, “COSCO: A COMMUNIST CHINESE-OWNED COMPANY,” House of Representatives, Rep. Cunningham,  April 15, 1997.
• Los Angeles Times, “Fund-Raiser Huang Surfaces, Testifies,” Robert L. Jackson, October 30, 1996.

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