Liu Chaoying

Who is 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. Liu is the daughter of former PLA General Liu Huaqing. Liu was a major figure in the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy.

According to the Washington Post, Johnny Chung met Ms. Liu in June 1996 through mutual business contacts in Hong Kong. Liu was looking for a foothold in Western markets. When she visited the U.S. in July 1996, Chung introduced her to Bill Clinton at a Los Angeles fund raiser. She and Chung also paid a call on the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, a meeting arranged by Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, another recipient of Chung's illegal contributions. On the agenda: the procedure for getting a foreign firm listed on American stock exchanges. On Aug. 9, 1996 Liu and Chung formed Marswell Investment, a Los Angeles corporation that issued 50,000 shares of stock—30,000 for Liu, 20,000 for Chung. And within days, Liu wired $300,000 into Chung's account at a Hong Kong bank, a source familiar with the case told Time. Most of it was for their new business venture; some went to the D.N.C. Between 1994 and 1996, Chung donated $366,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Eventually, all of the money was returned. Chung told federal investigators that $35,000 of the money he donated came from China's military intelligence.