Washington - The former Republican presidential candidate, Mr Bob Dole, has landed himself and his party colleague, Mr Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in political embarrassment by registering to work as a foreign agent to help Taiwan.
Mr Dole, who left active politics after his defeat by President Clinton in 1996, will work on Taiwan's behalf to improve its relations with the US Congress and the Clinton administration. The agreement was made between the Washington-based Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, Taiwan's unofficial "embassy" in the US, and Mr Dole's law firm and is said to involve a monthly retainer of $30,000.
The potential embarrassment for Mr Gingrich is that Mr Dole lent him $150,000 credit last year to help pay off a $300,000 fine for misuse of party political donations. Mr Gingrich promised at the time that he would only accept it as long as Mr Dole was not a registered lobbyist.