Huang, Riady Paths Crossed at Commerce

WASHINGTON — During the 18 months John Huang worked at the Commerce Department, his former Indonesian employer sought special department recognition for a number of its joint ventures with American firms, according to newly released internal documents.

The documents show Indonesia’s Lippo Group wanted the signing of the joint ventures to be included in a special ceremony that then-Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown held in Jakarta in November 1994 to encourage U.S.-Indonesian business cooperation. The documents were made public as a result of a Freedom of Information suit brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization.

Such Commerce Department recognition of overseas business ventures is prized by many companies, both foreign and domestic, because it lends the projects an elevated status in their markets and opens the way for possible practical support from the U.S. embassy or other overseas agencies.

Huang, then principal deputy assistant Commerce secretary for international economic policy, served on an interagency committee that tracked most--if not all--of the joint venture deals, the documents show.

The records do not address whether Huang had an active role in the requests involving the Lippo joint ventures, but they do call into question previous assertions by Clinton administration officials that Huang’s former employer--the Riady family and its Lippo Group conglomerate--had only one matter pending at the department during Huang’s tenure.

The information about the joint ventures also may heighten questions among critics in Congress about whether Huang in any way helped Lippo while he was at Commerce.

Huang, who became a Democratic Party fund-raiser after serving at Commerce from July 1994, to December 1995, has come under scrutiny as a result of hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal or questionable contributions he raised for the Democratic Party.

Questions about whether Huang sometimes mingled his political, business and government roles have been fueled in part by his frequent telephone contacts with Lippo associates while he was at Commerce, as reflected by his office records, and his presence at Commerce meetings at which Asia policy was planned and discussed. Lippo has extensive business investments in Asia.

Weeks ago, when Huang’s transition from bureaucrat to fund-raiser began attracting scrutiny, Commerce Department officials said the only issue involving Lippo that the department handled during Huang’s tenure was a now-inactive joint venture in China with Entergy, a Louisiana-based energy company.

In addition, both Huang and Commerce Department officials emphasized that he had pledged to steer clear of any Lippo matters.

“While at the Commerce Department,” Huang replied to written questions from The Times, “I did not work on any commercial deals of any kind involving the Lippo Group. Since it would have been an obvious conflict of interest to work on any such matters . . . I scrupulously avoided any contact with any Commerce Department matters involving Lippo.”

Asked about the information in the newly released records, a Commerce Department spokesperson, who declined to be identified, said current department officials previously were unaware of the Lippo projects other than the Entergy deal that received assistance from Brown and his staff. “We didn’t have knowledge of these at the time,” the official said.

According to the documents, Lippo sought or received department support for a number of joint ventures that it initiated with U.S. firms in the past few years--including Protective Life Corp., an insurance firm in Birmingham, Ala.; Law/Gibb International, an Atlanta-based engineering firm; major retailing chains such as Kmart Corp. and J.C. Penney Co., and auto suppliers, such as Champion Spark Plugs.

The interagency committee that tracked the deals was devoted to assisting American companies in their efforts to break into Asian markets. The memos indicate Huang was invited to regular meetings of the group.

The committee placed emphasis on joint ventures between U.S. and Indonesian firms--especially in the months leading up to a November 1994 meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Jakarta. Indonesia does not permit outside investment, so all foreign firms interested in doing business there must join in ventures with local firms.

Anne Luzzatto, spokeswoman for Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, said that Huang had a minimal role in reviewing Asian joint ventures, his interagency committee position notwithstanding. She said that two Commerce officials who frequently led the interagency group meetings do not remember Huang ever speaking up on any issue.

According to office records, Huang was scheduled to attend daily trip-planning meetings, beginning Oct. 17, 1994, in advance of Brown’s visit to Indonesia for the APEC meeting. While at the APEC meeting, Brown held a ceremony at the Jakarta Convention Center on Nov. 16, 1994, at which an estimated $40 million in U.S.-Indonesian joint business ventures were signed--one of them involving Lippo.

Before the APEC conference, the documents show, competition was stiff among U.S. and Indonesian companies to have their joint ventures recognized at the signing ceremony. The interest increased when word spread that President Clinton might attend, which he did not do. The list of applicants was winnowed to 15 joint ventures that would be honored.

Among those selected was the Carita Bay Resort, which Lippo was developing in West Java. Brown chose to witness the signing of a contract in which Law/Gibb International agreed to design a water, sewage and road system for the resort.

Commerce Department officials said they could not explain why the Carita Bay project was selected for recognition even though it was valued at only $200,000, far less than any of the other, multimillion-dollar deals that were a part of the ceremony.

Company executives did not respond to requests for comment.

The documents indicate that the Carita Bay project was included after two other Lippo-related joint ventures were passed over, apparently because of their small scale.

Internal memos indicate the Riadys had asked for the Commerce Department to include both the Lippo joint ventures with Protective Life and Kmart in the ceremony.