Johnny Chien Chuen Chung (鍾育瀚; pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Zhōng Yùhàn) (born 1955) was a major figure in the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy

1996 United States campaign finance controversy

The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, also known as Chinagate, was an alleged effort by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics during the 1996 federal elections....

.

Born in Taiwan

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, Chung was the owner of a "blastfaxing

Junk fax

Junk faxes are a form of telemarketing where unsolicited advertisements are sent via fax transmission. Junk faxes are the faxed equivalent of spam or junk mail...

" business (an automated system that quickly sends out faxes to thousands of businesses) in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the early 1990s. Chung eventually found himself in the middle of the Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 elite within a couple weeks of his first donations to the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

. Between 1994 and 1996, Chung donated $366,000 to the Democratic National Committee

Democratic National Committee

The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...

. Eventually, all of the money was returned. Chung told federal investigators that $35,000 of the money he donated came from China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

's military intelligence

Military intelligence

Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....

.

Called a "hustler" by a U.S. National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

 (NSC) aide Robert Suettinger

Robert Suettinger

Robert Suettinger was United States President Bill Clinton's national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council from 1997-1998. While there, Suettinger oversaw the preparation of national intelligence estimates for the director of the Central Intelligence Agency...

, Chung befriended former Lt. Col. Liu Chaoying

Liu Chaoying

Liu Chaoying , or Helen Liu, was an executive at China Aerospace International Holdings, Ltd. Hong Kong which is the Hong Kong subsidiary of China's premier satellite developer, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation . She was a Lt. Col. in the People's Liberation Army of China...

 during a Commerce Department trade mission to China.

Chung later testified under oath to the U.S. House

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 Committee in May 1999 that he was introduced to Chinese Gen. Ji Shengde

Ji Shengde

Ji Shengde was a major-general in charge of military intelligence in the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China until June 1999 when he was removed from his post after being implicated in a smuggling scandal centered on the Fujian port of Xiamen...

, then head of Chinese military intelligence, by Liu Chaoying. Chung said that Ji told him: "We like your president very much. We would like to see him reelect [sic]. I will give you 300,000 U.S. dollars. You can give it to the president and the Democrat [sic] Party." Both Liu and the Chinese government denied the claims.

Chung was eventually convicted of bank fraud, tax evasion, and two misdemeanor counts of conspiring to violate election law. On December 14, 1998, Johnny Chung was sentenced to probation and 3,000 hours.