14 those working for the harshest congressional critics of China’s crackdown. One trip in December 1989 featured very heated debates with Chinese officials, especially after it was announced that National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger were also in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders and that the two had made an earlier secret trip in July, soon after the crackdown. As the Bush administration had publicly promised Congress that all such contacts would end, the staff delegates’ anger at and criticism of China’s repression was compounded by their harsh reaction to the Bush administration’s actions. As US-China relations continued during a tumultuous post-Tiananmen crackdown period, Congress played important roles on such key issues as the debate over most-favored nation tariff treatment, the visit of Taiwan’s president to the United States in 1995, and the decision to approve China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. The Chinese government endeavored to build influence with and gain access to Congress by encouraging US businesses to lobby Congress on China’s behalf and by continuing to receive member and staff delegations in China. Other entities in the Chinese official structure, including the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese military, at times attempted to gain access to Congress. The International Department of the Chinese Communist Party engaged in growing exchanges with the major American political parties on a party-to-party basis. A Chinese “united front” organization, the Chinese Association for International Understanding (CAIFU), managed some of these ensuing trips. Also involved was the China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC). This “united front” organization’s link to the Chinese government was not then well known, though in recent years it has been publicly linked to the People’s Liberation Army’s Political Warfare Department, which has intelligence responsibilities