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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China Hires Top Washington Lobby Firm for Advice on Congress |
| 2005-08-21 |
| The Chinese government hired Patton Boggs LLP, the biggest Washington lobby firm, to give it advice about the U.S. Congress, according to a federal disclosure. The Chinese embassy in Washington will pay Patton Boggs $22,000 a month, according to contract papers filed with the U.S. Justice Department. China hired Patton Boggs in July, before congressional pressure helped scuttle an $18.5 billion bid by Beijing-based Cnooc Ltd., an oil producer, to buy Unocal Corp. of El Segundo, California. Mark Cowan, Robert Horn and Timothy Chorba, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, will lead Patton Boggs' work with the embassy. Cowan is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer and Horn is chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association, according to their biographies on the Patton Boggs Web site. The filing didn't indicate whether Patton Boggs would lobby Congress on behalf of the Chinese government. U.S. groups that work for foreign governments must register with the Justice Department as foreign agents. "We look forward to working with the embassy to achieve successful results," Cowan wrote in a contract letter to Su Ge, minister counselor at the Chinese Embassy in a July 11 letter. Chu Maoming, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, was traveling and not immediately available to comment. Brian Hale, a spokesman for Patton Boggs, said the company had been hired to provide "counsel" for the embassy. "Espionage" and "bribery" will be handled by the same company, through a "Chinese wall", to protect against conflict of interest. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 "Tell Chuck Hagel you'll pay top dollar for all the corn in Nebraska. He'll do whatever you want" /excerpt from Patton Boggs memo |
| Posted by: dushan 2005-08-21 20:44 |
| #1 Now if we could charge Patton Boggs LLP with aiding and abetting a forgien power and taking bribes.... |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-08-21 20:27 |