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SATURDAY
JUNE 17 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clinton knew China's Panama play in 1996 U.S. Embassy cabled warning: Hutchison run by communists --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Charles Smith
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com Newly released federal documents show
that the Clinton administration was aware in 1996 that China was attempting to
gain control of the Panama Canal.
The U.S. Commerce Department recently released a July 1996 unclassified cable [select this hyper to read the cable] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith_news/20000617_xnsof_clinton_kn.shtml from the U.S. Embassy in Panama. The cable accuses Beijing of funneling money into Hutchison Whampoa, the company controlled by controversial Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing. Hutchison Whampoa currently operates
the two ports on the Panama Canal -- the Pacific port of Balboa and the Atlantic
port of Cristobal.
"Embassy Panama has received
information to the effect that HIT (Hutchison International Terminals) is
controlled by mainland Chinese, perhaps through a Macao front which allegedly
recently invested $400 million in HIT," states the cable. "Such control would
have security implications and might affect the Panamanian government's views on
awarding the port concessions."
Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., a ranking member of the House Judiciary and House Government Reform Committees. Reacting to the information, Rep. Bob
Barr, R-Ga., a ranking member on both the House Judiciary and House Government
Reform Committees, sharply criticized President Clinton for ignoring the
warnings about Chinese control of the canal.
"This message proves serious concerns
about Chinese control of the canal raised by the U.S. Embassy in Panama in 1996
were and remain completely ignored by an administration that wants us to believe
all is well in Panama," stated Barr in an interview from his office inside
Capitol Hill.
"This latest piece of evidence is
part of a systematic pattern of deception about the dangers posed to American
and Panamanian national security by our unilateral withdrawal from Panama,"
concluded Barr.
The newly released documents were
forced from the U.S. Commerce Department through the Freedom of Information Act.
Some of the documents found by the Commerce Department have not been released
and one document is being forwarded to an unnamed agency.
The Commerce Department documents
also show that law enforcement agencies were very concerned about Li Ka-Shing's
connections to international smuggling. A 1995 cable from the American Embassy
in Nassau noted that Li Ka-Shing had signed an agreement to build an $88 million
container-ship terminal in the Grand Bahamas. The document shows that the
embassy in Nassau copied the cable to several law enforcement agencies including
the Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
"Reftel describes U.S. agencies'
security concerns about possible smuggling attempts through the terminal,"
states the cable from the American Embassy. "Post will request via septel
assistance in addressing these concerns while port development plans are still
on the drawing board."
The documents the Commerce Department
provided show that the Clinton administration was aware in 1996 of the $400
million investment into Li Ka-Shing's company by the Chinese government.
The Commerce documents describe China
Resources Enterprises as "the investment arm of China's Foreign Trade ministry."
During the 1997 Senate Governmental Affairs Committee hearings, however, Sen.
Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., described China Resources Enterprises as "an agent of
espionage -- economic, military and political -- for China."
China Resources Enterprises has
previously appeared in congressional hearings involving illegal campaign
donations to the Clinton / Gore 1996 re-election and foreign billionaires.
According to Sen. Thompson, China Resources Enterprises is linked to billionaire
Moctar Riady and the Lippo Group.
"Lippo group, run by the Riady family
which employed (John) Huang, had over the past few years become a major business
partner with China Resources, a trading company wholly owned by the government
of the People's Republic of China, and which has reportedly served as an
intelligence-collection front for China," noted Sen. Thompson during his summary
on the China campaign finance scandal.
Despite questions about illegal links
to Beijing front companies and international smuggling, the newly released
documents show that U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley, the newly appointed
campaign chairman for Vice President Al Gore's presidential bid, met with Li
Ka-Shing at a 1997 luncheon hosted by the powerful investment firm Goldman
Sachs.
The Commerce documents note that an
informal "talk" between Daley, Li and several "influential business people" was
held on the Goldman Sachs' boat Monkey's Uncle during a 1997 Hong Kong trade
trip. Included in the meeting was Beijing-owned business CITIC, a firm directly
linked to arms smuggling.
The Commerce document states,
"Goldman Sachs' boat (Monkey's Uncle) will depart from the Causeway Bay Typhoon
Shelter at 11:30 a.m. The boat will sail near the new airport site at Chek Lap
Kok. Lunch will be served onboard."
Even before the Monkey's Uncle
meeting, cables from the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong asserted that Li is linked to
President Jiang Zemin of China through a real estate deal. A 1996 cable also
noted that Li had moved against democratic business groups in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Tycoon Li Ka-Shing. Did he buy control of the Panama Canal for himself or for China? "Li is reputed to have a close
business relationship with key figures in Beijing," states the August 1999 cable
from the American Embassy in Hong Kong. "And he has a number of real estate and
infrastructure projects in the mainland. These close relationships were said to
be key to his obtaining the prime site on Beijing's Wangfujing for his USD2
billion Oriental Plaza Project. Some have suggested that it was because of Li's
mainland connections that the man behind the 1996 kidnapping of his son Victor
was arrested last year in China and swiftly executed. Li is a leading member of
Hong Kong's ethnic Chinese business elite, a tycoon who is no democrat. This
fact is reflected in his recent claim that he canceled a HKD10 billion (USD1.3
billion) project because of the unfavorable business climate created by Hong
Kong's politicized (more democratic) business climate."
The Commerce documents also reveal Li
Ka-Shing's business dealings with the Chinese military. One document titled
"principal subsidiary and associated companies," states that Li owns 25 percent
of "Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company," a firm run by the
Chinese air force.
The documents show that Li owns
one-third of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings, or AsiaSat, a company
owned in part by the Chinese army. In 1989, Peter Kwok, the business partner of
Robert Blum, the husband of Senator Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., helped CITIC and
Li Ka-Shing raise $120 million to buy a Hughes-built communications satellite
for AsiaSat.
The documents also state that Li
Ka-Shing is directly in business with the Chinese government through the China
Ocean Shipping Company, or COSCO. In 1996, a COSCO ship was caught in an attempt
to smuggle over 2,000 fully automatic machine guns into the United States. COSCO
is better known for its unsuccessful attempt to purchase the former Long Beach
Naval station in California.
In January 1997, President Clinton
authorized four container ships for export directly to China. The four container
ships were to be constructed for COSCO and Li Ka-Shing's Hutchison Whampoa by
the Alabama Shipyards of Mobile, Ala.
The four ships were to be built using
$138 million in private loans backed by the U.S. government. The loans had very
favorable terms, including low interest rates and a 25-year repayment plan --
longer than the expected life of the ships. The COSCO container-ship deal fell
apart in November 1997, however, amid questions about COSCO links to organized
crime and the Chinese navy.
Li Ka-Shing's ties to China have also
attracted U.S. military attention. U.S. Defense Department documents discovered
by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch, a Washington-based public interest group,
focused on Li Ka-Shing and his company Hutchison Whampoa. According to an
October 1999 "Intelligence Assessment" prepared by the U.S. military Southern
Command, the Hong Kong billionaire is a potential threat to America.
Official logo of Hutchison Whampoa "Hutchison's containerized shipping
facilities in the Panama Canal, as well as the Bahamas, could provide a conduit
for illegal shipments of technology or prohibited items from the West to the
PRC, or facilitate the movement of arms and other prohibited items into the
Americas," concluded the intelligence report.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charles Smith is a national security
and defense reporter for WorldNetDaily.
Embassy Panama has received
information to the effect that HIT (Hutchison International Terminals) is
controlled by mainland Chinese, perhaps through a Macao front which allegedly
recently invested $400 million in HIT.
-- Cable from the U.S. Embassy in Panama This message proves serious concerns about Chinese control of the canal raised by the U.S. Embassy in Panama in 1996 were and remain completely ignored by an administration that wants us to believe all is well in Panama. -- Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Li is reputed to have a close business relationship with key figures in Beijing. -- Cable from the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong In January 1997, President Clinton authorized four container ships for export directly to China. The four container ships were to be constructed for COSCO and Li Ka-Shing's Hutchison Whampoa by the Alabama Shipyards of Mobile, Ala. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith_news/20000617_xnsof_clinton_kn.shtml Bard
Pro
Libertate - For Freedom
BUCHANAN-Reform http://gopatgo2000.com/default.htm Mr.
Clinton, Who paid for these container ships?
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