Posted on 12/05/2002 1:42:46 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU DEC 05, 2002 16:08:25 ET XXXXX
INTRIGUE SURROUNDS GORE TRIP TO CHINA; PAID BY 'COMMUNIST' THINK-TANK; MET WITH FORMER ENRON EXEC
Former vice-president Al Gore recently made a visit to China, where he is believed to have been paid to speak at a communist government-linked think-tank and attended a lunch hosted by former ENRON director Ronnie Chan Chi-chung.
MORE
Participants at the China Development Institute-sponsored forum in Shenzhen, at which Gore was a key speaker last month, were offered the chance to have their photo taken with Gore if they paid 50,000 yuan (HK$ 47,000) or 100,000 yuan for conference sponsorship packages, the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST reported.
The news of his visit, which was said to have been personal, is expected to raise questions about whether he was engaged in fundraising activities following his role in an Asian campaign donation controversy in 1996.
Gore embarked on the China trek on the eve of his current book tour.
"You can't be the leading Democrat candidate for the upcoming elections and come to a communist country, take money from a communist think-tank and declare it a private event," said Mark Simon, vice-chairman in Hong Kong of Republicans Abroad.
Gore attended an informal Sunday lunch on November 18 with about 30 members of the Asia Society, hosted by Hong Kong chairman Mr Chan at the offices of his property company, Hang Lung Development.
Chan was an independent director of bankrupt US energy company ENRON, which triggered a crisis of confidence in American corporate governance when it collapsed last December.
Asked whether Gore was aware of Chan's relationship with ENRON, Mr Moon said: "He was . . . because I told him before we went into it the lunch ."
Developing...
The good news is, at least he is fundraising from his most avid constituents!
Who is expected to raise these questions? CNN? Fat chance!
I hate passive voice. Drudge should know better.
He didn't know that Ronnie Chan Chichung was a former ENRON director.
He didn't know it was a fund raiser.
He didn't know he was in China.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.