China plays the lobbying game

International Herald Tribune ^ | APRIL 19, 2006 | Michael Forsythe

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China, which up to now has relied on U.S. presidents to keep Congress from derailing bilateral relations, is turning to lobbyists to burnish its image with increasingly assertive lawmakers.

Employees of Patton Boggs, Washington's biggest lobbying firm by revenue, made at least 116 contacts with lawmakers or their aides on behalf of China in the last half of 2005, according to disclosures made to the Justice Department. China's lobbying rose 74 percent from the year-earlier period; it spent just under $500,000 in the second half on lobbying, paying Patton Boggs $22,000 a month.

China is "becoming more knowledgeable about how all countries need to play the game in Washington," said Kenneth Lieberthal, who oversaw China policy for the National Security Council under former President Bill Clinton. "The Chinese are simply starting to hedge by working harder with Capitol Hill because the Hill has become a more active player," said Lieberthal, who teaches political science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

[hedgetrimmer]

Asymmetric warfare, part II

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ping

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