Donations Add to Influence in U.S. : Taiwan a Big Contributor to Think Tanks

Over the last six years, the Heritage Foundation, the conservative Washington think tank with close ties to the Reagan Administration, has received $3 million from Taiwan, an amount larger than it gets from any other nation outside the United States.

“They give to us because they share our viewpoint,” explained Heritage Foundation President Edwin J. Feulner Jr., whose organization has issued a series of studies and analyses supporting policies favorable to Taiwan.

Part of Taiwan’s influence in the United States stems from its extraordinary financial support for the think tanks--whose scholars do research studies and make recommendations on U.S. government policy.

Most of the think tanks are based in Washington, where their studies are distributed widely in Congress, to Administration officials, federal agencies and the news media.

“Taiwan, in one way or another, has invested quite heavily in almost all of the major think tanks and universities dealing in Asia issues in the Washington area,” Harry Harding of the Brookings Institution said.

Expressed Astonishment

Although officials at several other Washington think tanks expressed astonishment at how much Taiwan money Heritage receives, they acknowledged that they, too, to a lesser extent have been the beneficiaries of Taiwan’s largess.

One researcher--who was afraid to speak for the record because of fear that his organization might lose its Taiwan funding--explained how the system works.

“They (Taiwan officials) give money. It doesn’t come from the government, it’s channeled through some private source, but the original approach comes from the Coordination Council for North American Affairs,” Taiwan’s office in the United States, this researcher said.

“Then they call up and expect your institution to provide a forum for publicizing Taiwan issues. They say: ‘We think it would be appropriate for you to sponsor a symposium on such-and-such a topic, and a delegation from Taiwan will be here at that time, and we hope you will permit them to be up there (at the symposium).’ ”

A spokesman for the Coordination Council’s Washington office, which serves as Taiwan’s unofficial embassy here, acknowledged that some American think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation “have close connections” with Taiwan organizations. However, the spokesman said, “we have no knowledge” of council officials taking part in meetings where donations are discussed.

“CCNAA has never tried to influence the foundations,” the Coordination Council spokesman said. “CCNAA has never tried to set an agenda for the foundations to which we have a connection.”

Officials Present

Christopher C. DeMuth, the president of the American Enterprise Institute, one of Washington’s most prestigious think thanks, confirmed that government officials for Taiwan’s Coordination Council have been present at meetings where contributions to American Enterprise from private business were discussed.

DeMuth estimated that American Enterprise has been receiving between $300,000 and $400,000 a year from Taiwan sources. The largest donors, he said, are two Taiwan companies, the Taiwan Cement Corp. and Far East Textiles. “I think the business people on Taiwan, when it comes to contributions abroad, rely on the advice of CCNAA,” DeMuth said.

The American Enterprise director said that Taiwan officials do not direct the course of the institute’s work. “They’ve never leaned on us. Nobody from their office has ever told us we should do this or that,” he said.

But DeMuth acknowledged that in recent months, Taiwan officials have discussed with American Enterprise the possibility of sponsoring a symposium or seminar commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, the 1979 law in which the United States promised to continue providing arms for Taiwan’s defense.

‘Substantial Gifts’

At the Heritage Foundation, Feulner said that Taiwan “has given us substantial gifts over the years. It’s probably in excess of $3 million out of our total endowment of $18 million.”

This money does not come from the Taiwan government or its Coordination Council here. Instead, Feulner said, it has come from three private companies on Taiwan. Two of them are the same private companies that give to the American Enterprise Institute. The third is the Union Petrochemical Corp.

Feulner, who estimates that he has traveled to Taiwan 15 to 18 times since 1980, said that these three companies share with the Heritage Foundation an interest in free trade and in maintaining U.S. defense commitments in Asia.

He said that the money from Taiwan does not compromise the objectivity of Heritage’s research studies. “We control how we spend the income from the endowment,” he said. “We are able to design our own programs.”

The Heritage Foundation has devoted considerable time to sponsoring symposiums and issuing studies and pamphlets on Taiwan issues.

This year, for example, the Heritage Foundation issued a study advocating the creation of a “free trade area” between the United States and Taiwan, similar to that which President Reagan signed with Canada.

It also recently published a pamphlet, “U.S. Policy Toward China’s Reunification,” arguing that the United States should not do anything to try to reunite Taiwan with China.