The easy answer is that he is a big-money Taiwanese donor to McCain and the RNC, the subject of stories today in the Chicago Tribune and the Guardian and a diary here by EMan. These stories do most of the legwork, but I've done a little bit putting this in context, because I was wondering if there is any evidence of a quid pro quo. Long story short: there is something funny here, at least probably a violation of campaign donation limits. But you can ask, what is a Taiwanese businessman doing donating so much to the Republicans, to Eric Cantor's campaign in Virginia, to the Wisconsin Republican Party, and to John McCain? It does seem like he's doing some favors for the party, and at the end the closest I can get to a reason has to do with an interest in a favorable legal decision in Nevada. . .
Marshall Hao is a student at the Columbia Graduate School of Business, due to receive his MBA in 2009. He is part of a large Taiwanese family from Taipei who are settled in California, Illinois, and New York. They often coordinate their contributions. For example, the one contribution to Democrats was to the Clinton campaign this September – on the same day five members of the family donated the same amount.
In the last 13 months, he has contributed over $121,000 to political campaigns, over 98% of it to Republicans. In particular, he donated $70,100 to McCain and 35,000 to the RNC. It is worth noting that the latter was under two names and addresses, Shi Sheng Hao in Illinois and Marshall Hao in New York.
Finally, he is the President of a would-be disposal company and a would-be international casino business.
The first is only referenced in one place I was able to find:
The Taiwanese environmental firm, Great China Environmental Engineering Corporation, and the US incineration firm, Vesta Technology Inc., have entered into an agreement to provide treatment and disposal services in Taiwan. Vesta says they plan to build a disposal facility for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the two firms "are in the final stages of siting" the facility.
President of Great China Environmental, Marshall Hao, said "we are confident that the success of this first project will lead to . . . several others".
The latter appears to be linked to a company that has various names: American Chinese Entertainment; American Chinese Entertainment, Ltd.; A.C.E.C., Ltd.; Asian American Sociedade de Diversoes, S.A.; and Asian American Entertainment Corporation Limited. I only found a reference to one in the South-East Asia Commercial Center office building in Macau (廣場180號東南亞商業中心17樓Hê
60;I座 Macao澳門). The company filed a $750 million lawsuit in February of 2007 against the Sands group in Las Vegas, who were awarded a concession in Macau that the Hao group has partnered with the Venetian group in Las Vegas to try to get. But the Venetians ended up pulling out and won the bid partnering with the Sands group.
But here is where I think the quid pro quo might come in. They are thinking of filing suit. Donating very heavily to the Republicans might make sense if they think that in return they might get a favorable hearing and potentially some portion of the lucrative money flowing to the Nevada interests who operate the Macau casinos. This information is found here and here:
Asian American said it has appealed the licensing decision to Macau’s chief executive and to the Hong Kong and Macau office of the State Council in Beijing, claiming the licensing committee was prejudiced against Asian American’s Taiwanese business connections. Asian American’s investors include the China Development Industrial Bank, based in Taiwan – which has always has strained relationships with Mainland China.
Asian American also said it is considering legal action against the Venetian in Nevada, citing loss of future earnings from the Macau casino.
So far this story that raises suspicions and it appears to me that he exceeded the limit of $28,500 to the RNC, something that using two different names in two states can't hide (but IANAL!) At first I thought people were just reacting to the fact that this person appears to have given false addresses and appears to be a foreign national. And that, I thought, was sort of anti-foreign. But after looking into it a little, it does seem a little shady, if not definitively so.
For those who want to dig more here is a list of his donations over the past year based on the FCC reports:
Mr. Shi Sheng Hao, 591 E. Devon, Roselle, IL 60172
Businessman A.C.E.C., Ltd.
9/20/07
Republican National Committee
25000.00
Marshall Hao
Apartment 4B, 528 Riverside Drive, New York NY 10027
Columbia University, MBA
9/27/07
Republican National Committee
10000.00
Marshall Hao, 591 E. Devon, Roselle, IL 60172
President, American Chinese Entertainment
6/9/08
Cantor for Congress (VA) - primary
2300.00
Marshall Hao, Roselle, IL 60172
President, American Chinese Entertainment
6/9/08
Cantor for Congress (VA) - primary
2300.00
Mr. Shi Shenghao, Roselle, IL 60172-1472
President, American Chinese Entertainment, Ltd.
6/24/08
McCain Victory 2008 (primary)
70100.00
Hao Shi, Roelle, IL 60172
President, American Chinese Entertainment
7/1/2008
Republican Party of Wisconsin
9250.00
Marshall Hao, 526 Riverside Drive, Apt 4B, New York NY 10027-3940
Investment Consultant, Goldman Sachs
9/5/08
Hillary Clinton for President
2300.00
Total=121250
Is this just being worried about foreign names, or a real issue?