China Hosted Several Lawmakers, Records Show

WASHINGTON — In the past, while many members of Congress were invited to take expenses-paid trips to Taiwan, few of them got invitations to mainland China.

But according to congressional financial disclosure reports made public Friday, at least a dozen members of Congress made all-expenses-paid trips to Beijing and other destinations inside China last year--providing yet another indication that the Chinese government has stepped up efforts to win influence in Washington.

Most of the trips to China were financed by organizations funded indirectly by either the Chinese government or American companies that depend on U.S.-Chinese trade. Among the sponsors was the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a controversial organization that receives money from the Chinese government.

The disclosure reports were released as the FBI and the Justice Department investigate allegations that the Chinese government illegally channeled campaign contributions to U.S. political parties and candidates.

Last year, U.S. counterintelligence officials intercepted long-distance conversations between Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Washington in which Chinese officials hatched a plan to win more political influence in Washington.

Even before the financial disclosure reports were released, the Congressional Research Service reported that “an unprecedented number of congressional members” recently had gone to China.

In addition to trips financed by outside groups, some members took trips to Beijing that were paid for by Congress itself. Dozens of congressional staff employees also accepted Beijing’s hospitality.

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Experts in U.S.-China policy said that the Beijing government initiated these invitations in an effort to compete with the Taiwanese, who for years have achieved popularity in Washington by offering members of Congress all-expenses-paid trips to Taipei.

In 1996, according to the reports, at least 10 members of Congress visited Taiwan, some of them more than once.

One member, Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Texas) visited both China and Taiwan at the expense of groups funded directly or indirectly by the two governments. Ortiz serves on the House National Security Committee.

Organizations established to promote U.S. relations with other countries, such as Japan, India and Thailand, also hosted members of Congress. Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-Ind.) reported taking an overseas trip as the guest of the U.S.-Thailand Business Council, whose officials have been accused of making illegal foreign donations to President Clinton’s campaign.

In addition to Ortiz, members of Congress who reported making expenses-paid trips to China included Sens. Rod Grams (R-Minn.) and Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), and Reps. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Tom DeLay (R-Texas), J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Henry Bonilla (R-Texas), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), Marshall “Mark” Sanford (R-S.C.), Ken Calvert (R-Riverside), Bill Paxon (R-N.Y.) and Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio).

Some of these trips were funded by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, which in turn receives funds from the government’s Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs, and by a foundation related to the American International Group, a company with business ventures in China and ties to the Lippo Group. The Riady family, which owns Lippo, is at the center of the current fund-raising investigation by the Justice Department.

Another group funding some congressional trips to China was the Asia-Pacific Exchange Foundation, which worked closely with the Chinese government to arrange the trips, according to those who have enjoyed the group’s hospitality.

Visitors to Taiwan included Ortiz and Reps. Nick Smith (R-Mich.), Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.), Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), Thomas J. Manton (D-N.Y.), Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), Gene Green (D-Texas) and Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.).

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Meanwhile, the financial reports disclosed that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) earned a total of $356,609 in 1996, $171,500 of it from his speaker’s salary and $185,109 in outside income--mostly royalties from his book “To Renew America.”

Gingrich--who was slapped with a $300,000 penalty by the House Ethics Committee earlier this year after a two-year investigation of his activities--reported substantial assets, but most of them were held by his wife, Marianne. She had resisted the idea of Gingrich paying the ethics penalty out of his personal resources.

After being slapped with the $300,000 ethics fine, Gingrich initially said he would pay it with a loan from 1996 GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole. But faced with criticism that he had gotten a “sweetheart deal,” he later announced that he would pay no more than half the penalty with a Dole loan and in May made the first of three $50,000 installment payments to the Ethics Committee from his own pocket.

Gingrich reported receiving $1,182 for a cameo appearance on CBS-TV’s “Murphy Brown.” His $185,109 in book royalties indicates a steep drop in sales of his book, which produced $1.2 million in royalties in 1995.