We now know that Communist China received high technology, MFN, COSCO and other favors for money. The full story is yet to be written, but the Ether Zone has written a number of investigative reports that document the flow of money from the Communist Chinese to the coffer of Bill Clinton. More obscured is the penetration of the Communist Chinese on American soil.
The infiltration of Chinese Intelligence in the United States is something a fictitious spy novel may have. The chilling fact that it actually happened should sober the most critical reader. The roots of the Red Chinese gaining a foot hold into American politics can be traced to none other than Bill Clinton’s Arkansas.
In 1977, Chinese agent, Mochtar Riady an Indonesian billionaire came to Arkansas. Mochtar Riady is an ethnic Chinese banker in Jakarta. He started his financial empire with gun and drug running in the East Indies before World War II. Riady wants to get a financial base started in this country and looks for a bank to purchase. He seeks the help of Jackson Stephens to act as his agent. A deal ensued in which Riady would purchase a 30% share of the National Bank of Georgia from (Carter Administration) Burt Lance. At the same time, Stephens also brokered the arrival of BCCI to this country and steered their founder, Hassan Abedi, to Burt Lance.
Under pressure from Chinese operatives, Riady backs out of the deal and a BCCI front man buys the shares. Hassan Abedi went on to secretly take over the bank shares that would lead to the BCCI scandal to be prosecuted in the US.
James Riady, Mochtar’s son, was taken on as an intern by Jackson Stephens to learn the world of finance. Later he would say that he was sponsored by Bill Clinton.
In 1983, we find Mochtar Riady back in Little Rock. This time he forms The Lippo Finance & Investment Group. Chinese agent Riady, unbelievably, hires Jimmy Carter’s former SBA director, Vernon Weaver, to chair his firm. This is launched with the aid of a $2 million loan guaranteed by the SBA! Bill Clinton was used a character reference to help the the loan. The Lippo Group makes there first loan to Little Rock Chinese restaurant owner, Charlie Trie. Trie would later be sought as a money launderer in Clinton’s legal fund and would hide out in Beijing, China.
Riady buys a stake in the Worthen holding company in 1985, whose assets include the Jackson Stephens controlled Worthen Bank. Price: $16 million. Other Worthen co-owners will eventually include BCCI investor Abdullah Taha Bakhish. Within a few months, James Riady is found managing Worthen as President. It is also at this time that Bill Clinton attends numerous luncheons at Worthen. Clinton become inseparable friends with Riady and Charlie Trie. Finally, Lippo executive and Chinese spy John Huang becomes active in Lippo’s operations in Arkansas. Huang went on to become an assistant secretary in the Commerce Department under Ron Brown and was able to obtain intelligence briefings held within the department for a period of 18 months. It was during this time (that we know of) that Huang made 94 trips to the White House, seeing Clinton on 15 occasions. It was also during this period that Huang made over 70 calls to the Lippo Group in which some were made on the same day classified documents were received by him. Huang also went on to become a key fundraiser for the DNC.
Arkansas state pension funds, deposited in Worthen by Governor Bill Clinton, suddenly lose 15% of their value because of the failure of high risk, short-term investments and the brokerage firm that bought them. The $52 million loss is covered by a Worthen check written by Jack Stephens in the middle of the night, an insurance policy, and the subsequent purchase over the next few months of 40% of the bank by Mochtar Riady. Clinton and Worthen escape a major scandal.
It is a very busy year indeed for the Chinese operatives. 1985, also saw Mochtar and James Riady engineer the takeover of the First National Bank of Mena in a town of 5,400 with few major assets beyond a Contra supply base, drug running and money-laundering operations.
In 1990, James Riady takes over operations of a new branch of the Lippo Bank, working with Hong Kong Lippo executive, John Huang.
The Arkansas Industrial Development Commission furthers the Indonesian – Arkansas connection in 1991. Deals are worked on for Wal-Mart, Tyson’s Foods, and JB Hunt. Later documents uncovered by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will “make reference to Clinton’s ideal position as president . . in helping to secure Arkansas-Indonesian deals.” The US ambassador in Jakarta at the time will later remark, “There were lots of people from Arkansas who came through Indonesia.”
Finally, it was during the 1992 Presidential elections, Bill Clinton became cash strapped. Riady and Stephens came to Clinton’s rescue with a three million dollar loan at a crucial juncture, compliments of the Worthen Bank.
THE ROOTS OF TRAVELGATE
During Clinton’s first Presidential bid, all campaign travel was booked through the Little Rock-based World Wide Travel Office. A closer look at World Wide Travel’s financial dealings, reveal that there principal backer is none other than the Lippo Group’s Worthen Bank.
World Wide provided provided Clinton with $1 million in deferred billing for his campaign trips. Clinton aide David Watkins boasts to a travel magazine, “Were it not for World Wide Travel here, the Arkansas governor may never have been in contention for the highest office in the land.” In fact, without the Worthen Bank and the WorldwideTravel Office, it is unlikely that the cash-strapped candidate could have survived through the later primaries.
So the political favors ran deep and World Wide wanted a pay back. In 1993, Hillary Clinton and David Watkins moved to oust the White House travel office in favor of World Wide Travel, Clinton’s source of $1 million in fly-now-pay-later campaign trips. The White House would fire seven long-term employees for alleged mismanagement and kickbacks. The director, Billy Dale, charged with embezzlement, will be acquitted in less than two hours by the jury.
Published in the November 1, 1998 issue of Ether Zone Online Copyright © 1998 Ether Zone Online (http://etherzone.com). Reposting permitted with this message intact.