Clinton fund scandal gathers force

No less an authority than Stephen Ambrose, historian of the Eisenhower and Nixon presidencies, fears a parallel between Nixon's scandal-haunted re-election in 1972 and Clinton's in 1996. Our Asia correspondent Harvey Stockwin reports on the development of what has already been dubbed "Indongate" in some U.S. papers.

HONG KONG (JP): Asia secured a niche for itself in the recent American presidential election in the worst possible way.

As a result, there is a very real risk that Asia will continue to intrude into U.S. domestic politics in a way that could be disadvantageous to Asia's interests, and also to re-elected U.S. President Bill Clinton's future place in history.

Asian realities ought to have imposed themselves upon the presidential campaign simply because of their increasing importance in world affairs.

In security terms, the candidates ought to have debated China's present role and the appropriate responses. Bob Dole could have asked Bill Clinton why it was that he urged toughness towards the "butchers of Beijing" when defeating George Bush, but had then been softer than Bush on China since taking office. Clinton should have justified his 180 degree about face.

In economic terms, the two candidates could have discussed what the slightly reduced U.S. trade deficit with Japan, and the fast rising deficit with China mean for U.S. trade and financial interests. Instead, they never touched upon it.

China's recent bellicose stance towards Taiwan, North Korea's refusal to abide by the 1953 Korean armistice agreement, India's refusal to sign the nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the shaky future of the U.S. military bases in Japan -- all these and many other issues ought to have at least secured some mention in the extended election campaign. As they all involve vital U.S. interests, extensive debate would have been appropriate.

But, of course, issues such as these can hardly be compressed into a ninety-second campaign advertisement, now the main source of communication in U.S. democratic discourse.

However, it can be said the Clintonites do appear to have recognized one East Asian reality -- the region's rapidly growing wealth and its consequent ability to provide funds, legally or illegally, for American politicians.

The highly questionable relationship between East Asian wealth and the Clinton campaign was the means for Asia's entry into the presidential campaign. Sleaze rather than serious discussion of key issues looks likely to continue to dominate U.S. perceptions of Asia, as Clinton prepares for his second term.

In the weeks and months ahead Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea are likely to remain close to the center of the still- expanding controversy. China, India and Japan are also likely to be affected. It may not please Jakarta, but already the scandal has been dubbed Indongate as a result of the central role of the Indonesia Riady family, and their Lippo conglomerate, in the affair. It is possible that Asiagate will eventually seem more appropriate.

At first sight, the fact that on Dec. 6 the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hurriedly returned the US$325,000 "donation" from California resident Yogesh K Gandhi should minimize Indian involvement in the spreading stain.

On second sight, the fact that the DNC moved so quickly to return the large sum to Gandhi is bound to raise even more questions. So far, earlier suggestions that Indian businessmen may have had an interest in using Gandhi as a front for buying influence have not been substantiated.

Gandhi linked himself to the Indonesian angle when he said that John Huang had handled his US$325,000 donation. John Huang is the former Commerce Department deputy assistant secretary, and longtime employee of the Riady family, whose wide-ranging role as a Clinton fund-raiser, working for the DNC, has already raised many eyebrows. "He has visited the White House more times than I have, and I have served six Presidents," former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole noted when the large number of Huang visits to Clinton's home was admitted, on the basis of Secret Service logs.

Along with the raised eyebrows have come several Freedom of Information requests from U.S. newspapers which have already served to punch holes in the Clinton Administration's line that Huang was a low-level official solely concerned with administrative matters.

One crucial controversy surrounding Huang arises because someone in the Clinton Administration overrode what should have been a normal FBI investigation of Huang's foreign background when granting him a top-secret clearance. Whether this unusual override had anything to do with James Riady's remarkable degree of access to the White House and President Clinton remains to be seen.

Clumsily, the White House started by minimizing Riady's access to a few visits. Now it has been forced to admit the visits were more frequent than earlier admitted. This is exactly the kind of stonewalling absolutely guaranteed to both whet the appetite and increase the numbers of journalistic and Congressional investigators.

This override of normal FBI precautions has implications for U.S. national security.

On the one hand, Huang was once employed at a Riady/Lippo purchase in Hong Kong -- the Hong Kong Chinese Bank. One minority shareholder in that bank is China Resources, a Beijing corporation which is directly controlled by China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Investment -- and ultimately controlled by the Standing Committee of the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.

On the other hand, it is possible that Huang is still a citizen of Taiwan as well as of the U.S.

A proper FBI investigation would have clarified whether Huang's top-security clearance was likely to be used to the advantage of either the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China on Taiwan. Now information acquired by the Los Angeles Times under the Freedom of Information Act makes it plain that Huang was very interested in policy matters regarding China. Additionally, articles in both the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times have reported that James Riady tried to influence Clinton's views on China when visiting the White House.

Precisely how Yogesh K. Gandhi could have fitted in with either Huang's fund-raising, Lippo influence-peddling, or Riady's electoral support for Clinton is simply not clear. What is clear is that Gandhi had a connection with a strange religious sect in Japan with its headquarters on Mount Fuji, and with the billionaire who funded right-wing causes within Japan..

If Jakarta Post readers who surf the Internet would like to see this connection first hand, then they should go to: http://www.tensei.com on the world wide web. Click the mouse on World Mission and then you will see a Dr. Hogen Fukunaga hob- nobbing with the Pope, with Mother Teresa, and with President Bill Clinton.

It was Dr. Fukunaga who presented the President with the Gandhi Peace Award at the Washington dinner which Gandhi paid US$325,000 to attend. In the photo on the Tensei web-site, Yogesh Gandhi can be faintly seen in between Clinton and Fukunaga.

The Peace prize also carried with it an award of US$100,000, which Clinton declined, but, in a private room separate from the dinner, he did accept the peace prize in the form of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

According to numerous U.S. press reports Yogesh Gandhi is broke, is behind in paying his taxes, and is no longer available for interviews. The State of California attorney-general's office is investigating whether his Peace Foundation deserves its status as a charity.

The supposition is that Fukunaga's outwardly well-heeled religious movement may have supplied the cash for the donation to the DNC. If so, it could mean more problems for Gandhi since it is illegal to conceal the real donor when making a political contribution in the U.S.

The Tensei web-site tells us that Dr. Fukunaga was "reborn by the voice from heaven" early on Jan. 6, 1980. Having attained this "enlightenment", Fukunaga founded the Tensei Kaisetsu movement or "Open Speeches of the Heavenly Voice".

One example of the Heavenly Voice is "See what you cannot see! Listen to what you cannot hear! Seek the source of truth to be true!"

Whether Gandhi thought that Fukunaga was espousing a Japanese version of Hinduism or was likely to be a meal-ticket to a prosperous future is not yet clear. A lengthy expose in the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 2 revealed that the extremely wealthy patron of extreme Japanese right-wing groups, the late Ryoichi Sasakawa gave US$500,000 to Ghandi's foundation after Sasakawa was awarded the Gandhi Peace prize in 1988. It was also Gandhi, according to the Times, who arranged for Fukunaga's meetings with the Pope and Mother Teresa.

All this is interesting but it pales into insignificance compared to the basic question -- what was President Clinton doing in such dubious company? Of course, all manners of people can hope to raise their social status by seeking to hob-nob with the U.S. President. But the U.S. President, having arrived at the top of the tree, should have no need for such social climbing.

The answer, it would seem, is that President Clinton's smile, handshake, and photo were all for sale in the cause of defeating his financially better-off Republican challenger.

The President, not known for his interest in foreign policy, apparently did not ask, and his staff did not know, what these questionable characters were really doing in Clinton's presence. All that mattered was the cheques, some of which have now been hurriedly returned.

Next to the Clinton-Fukunaga picture on the Internet lie the words "If we practice a life according to the law, we are given joy by the law of nature".

Clinton was given great joy by the electorate last week but now Republican-controlled Congressional investigations are liable to make that happiness short-lived.