|
|
||
 
|
|
|
By Cindy Shiner In a written statement provided at the end of an interview, Riady also sought to clarify his relationship with former Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee spent almost a year investigating many aspects of alleged campaign finance abuses in the 1996 presidential and congressional elections, including a "plan" by China to influence U.S. elections. "I did not receive any information from John that I was told was classified, or that I believed to be classified," Riady said in the statement. "I did not ask John to give me any American classified intelligence, and to the best of my knowledge he did not provide me with any such information." Riady, who is deputy chairman of the Lippo Group, one of Indonesia's largest and most respected conglomerates, also said Huang "did not ask me to channel any money to America for the purpose of gaining influence for any foreign country in an American election, and I did not do so." Huang once ran Lippo's U.S. operations. He served in the Commerce Department beginning in July 1994. After a Sept. 13, 1995, meeting between Riady and Clinton in the Oval Office, Huang moved over to the Democratic National Committee in December that year, where he raised money from Asian American donors. The Senate committee said it had "a single piece of unverified information" that Huang may have a direct financial relationship with the Chinese government. The draft report describes the alleged relationship between the Riady family and Chinese intelligence as "based on business interests," with the Riadys obtaining Chinese assistance for international business opportunities "in exchange for large sums of money and other help." Riady spoke in his 21-story office building on the outskirts of Jakarta. The ground rules of the interview prohibited questions on American politics or the family's alleged links to Chinese intelligence, such as why the family contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Clinton and the Democrats, and why Huang was in such frequent contact with his former employers at Lippo when he was at the Commerce Department. The timing of his statement is important. Riady, an ethnic Chinese, is trying to project a stable image for himself and his company at a time of economic and social upheaval in Indonesia. Riady also would like to improve his image in the United States, a country he says he loved and admired. But in the limelight he attracted in his 15 to 20 visits to the White House, including three to the Oval Office where he discussed policy matters with Clinton, he got a taste of American culture that he didn't bargain for, he says. "American values, I think I must say, have deteriorated," he said. "I think what you see in the television forms the image of what the truth is. Actually what it has become is, the perception is more important than the truth." So far the Senate panel's allegations appear to have left the reputation of Riady and his father, Mochtar, as good businessmen intact in Indonesia. Indeed, in a country like Indonesia, giving money to influential friends -- in this case President Clinton -- simply makes good business sense. From his office, where several framed pictures of himself with Clinton decorate a bookshelf and desk, Riady portrayed the Lippo Group as one of Indonesia's most durable companies, with an American-inspired dream of developing glittering shopping malls and residential communities. "We like to focus more on the vision that we have, and our eyes are still focused on that vision," he said. "We're not quite like America yet, but obviously that becomes our target of what we'd like to do." It includes expanding business in China and elsewhere. Lippo sources said business in China currently represents 5 percent of the company's total assets, but company executives predict that in two or three decades that figure could grow to 30 percent. "We have always felt that China presents extremely good long-term prospects," Riady said. "But that's what it is -- prospects." "In the short term there are lots of risks, volatility, as the government tries to shift and structure its economy from a basically state economy to more and more open economy and private enterprise," he said. "During that shift there's a lot of uncertainties and a lot of volatility. So what we try to do is try to look in the long term, but in the short term try to limit our investments to a manageable level." Despite his dreams, Riady still has to deal with the short term, namely, wrestling with Indonesia's economic crisis. A $43 billion bailout by the International Monetary Fund is supposed to help get the sprawling archipelago back on its feet, but the government has been slow to implement reforms. An acute money problem -- the local currency, the rupiah, has lost more than two-thirds of its value in the past eight months -- has many companies on the verge of bankruptcy because they can't pay their debts. In this regard, Lippo has done fairly well. Riady said that in the last two years the company has incurred no debt at all.
But there are cracks in the Lippo veneer. Riady acknowledged that Lippo-owned banks had lost 10 percent of their deposits, and that the company's retail business is down 20 percent to 30 percent. Despite the overall economic problems plaguing Indonesia, and the resulting crisis of confidence, Riady still promotes the nation as "the best place for investments." And he says it is not true that personal connections determine success or failure here. "I think in any country connections are important because at the end of the day you want to know the policy directions of the government," he said. "So relationships and connections are important and are helpful, but I think it is unwise to base your business on those connections."
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company Go to Campaign Finance Report | Go to Politics Section
|
|||||||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
James Riady, left, with his father, Mochtar, in 1994 (AP File Photo) 