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The blowup over the Chinese connection has already made it doubtful that Beijing will get Congress to grant it permanent MFN status this year. Even longtime supporters are worried about appearing to be in China's pocket. In Long Beach, California, residents are protesting a city plan to lease the abandoned Long Beach Naval Station to the China Ocean Shipping Company Americas, a firm controlled by the Chinese government. California Senators Feinstein and Boxer, who are ordinarily dependable China boosters, have asked the Pentagon to look into the security implications of the lease.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich is having second thoughts about visiting China this month as part of an Asian tour by members of Congress. Last week a group of prominent conservatives met with Gingrich to insist that he highlight human rights in his discussions with Chinese officials. Gore leaves next week on his long-scheduled China trip. At a press briefing in Beijing last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai had to spend much of his time fending off questions about the campaign-finance scandals. Said he: "There have been rumors in the American press that China did this or that, but eventually this will all prove to be untrue." Then Cui added, "We'd like to have a normal relationship with the U.S. Congress." When one considers how America's own special interests pour money into Washington, that's not entirely reassuring.
--Reported by James Carney, Elaine Shannon and Michael Weisskopf/Washington and Jaime A. FlorCruz/Beijing, with other bureaus
For more information, see our Web report at time.com/reports/chinafunds