Panel blames China again

WASHINGTON, July 9: US senators opened politically charged hearings into fund-raising abuses with two surprises: US Intelligence has unmasked continuing efforts by China to influence elections, and a reluctant witness, John Huang, is making an offer that could lead to his testimony.

Outlining what he called 8220;the story about the existence of a Chinese plan to subvert our election process,8221; the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs committee said yesterday that China 8220;is believed to have allocated substantial sums of money8221; to influence the 1996 presidential election, Congressional races and state elections.

Chairman Fred Thompson, a Republican, said the plan violates American law.Top Democrats on the panel said they weren8217;t ready to go as far as Thompson in his talk of efforts to subvert US elections.