We tend to see presidential campaigns through a domestic prism, but acts and statements often have repercussions far beyond our shores. PNS associate editor Franz Schurmann looks at the implications of a yes decision by Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint a special counsel to investigate Al Gore's fund raising activities. Schurmann, professor emeritus of history and sociology at UC-Berkeley, has written widely on foreign affairs.

Whether or not Attorney Janet General Reno appoints a special counsel to investigate Al Gore's fundraising activities, the vice president is in political trouble. But if she does act before the Democratic convention in mid-August, that trouble could deepen -- conceivably to the point where Gore might even consider pulling out of the presidential race.

The accusations against Gore relate to a visit he made on April 29, 1996 to the Buddhist Hsi Lai Temple in Los Angeles. One of his "long time supporters," Maria Hsia, who arranged the visit to the temple, was convicted last March of violating the campaign finance law by disguising donations from the temple, including some made at the luncheon.

Those who were present that day, according to one witness, were all long-time donors to the temple's benevolent projects. This writer visited its sister temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1995 -- a complex of buildings that covered over 30 acres where the creed's good works were plentifully evident.

But more serious fund-raising charges appeared on November 1, 1996, just before the 1996 presidential election, when the Los Angeles Times reported that a former White House aide, Mark Middleton, allegedly solicited $15 million from the Kuomintang (KMT), the then ruling party of Taiwan. C. P. Chen, a Taiwan public relations consultant, had long been leveling these charges anonymously but they made news when he went public.

Middleton denied Chen's charges. But, just the day before, Reno had announced the Justice Department would begin the lengthy process of determining whether to appoint an independent counsel to investigate fund-raising by Clinton aides, as requested by Republicans. No counsel was named, but four years later Reno finds herself in the same position.

Even if no money had changed hands, Gore's visit to the Temple had international significance. It gave Taiwan a boost at a time when there was increased tension between China and Taiwan, two old enemies. Then, a U.S. aircraft carrier was ordered to sail through the Taiwan Straits, a move widely interpreted as a way of warning Beijing that the U.S. would intervene if China used military force to take Taiwan.

Most people in Taiwan want a U.S. security umbrella and feel the best way to get is by having staunch supporters in the American political structure. It regarded Gore as a supporter, and since -- up to that time -- President Clinton made no major moves on U.S.-China relations Taiwan could consider him a friend as well. But now all that has changed.

During Clinton's second term, Taiwan has seen the White House more and more gravitating towards China. This trend came to a head last May in the vote on letting China into the World Trade Organization. The vote was really not about trade -- ironically, Taiwan has long favored China's entry into the WTO -- but about U.S.-China relations. It was a titanic battle between those who wanted closer ties with China versus those who backed Taiwan. The latter lost -- badly.

Last March Taiwan had a presidential election that led to the downfall of the KMT after 72 years in power -- in China until 1950 and thereafter on Taiwan. It was in close alliance with the United States until 1972, when Nixon made his breakthrough to China. fought hard to keep its standing on the world scene after that.

One way it did this was to spread its money around the world, seeking supporters to offset its powerful rival in Mainland China. During the recent election campaign the Taiwan media revealed the KMT was by far the world's richest political party, with some $10 billion in cash and liquid assets.

Many poor and small countries in Central America and Africa benefited from KMT donations. Washington's powerful Taiwan lobby was liberally financed by KMT money.

Chen Shui-bien, leader of the pro-independence Democratic People's Party (DPP), won Taiwan's presidential election in an historic vote. Four days after his inauguration, the House made its historic vote. The KMT was in shambles, torn asunder by internal struggles. But the Mainland glories in growing power, stability and wealth. Prosperous Taiwan's main market by far is Mainland China.

In office only one month, Chen has been struggling against China's enormous magnetism while trying to be faithful to his party's commitment to a Taiwan identity. But Chen's own statements and activities in the business community make it very likely that Taiwan will, sooner or later, accommodate to Beijing's terms.

The KMT is now history. Will Vice-President Gore, under suspicion for having accepted Taiwan money, be dragged down by that loss? Gore also was the administration's point man on Russia. And U.S. Russia policy is in shambles. Along with disappointing poll ratings Gore, if nominated, faces a tough election battle.

As President Clinton still eclipses him in the daily photo-ops some political pros may be wondering, even at this late date, that other Democratic candidates might be considered.