BEIJING, July 28: A prominent Chinese businessman reported to have been connected with donations to United States politicians has denied those allegations, describing them as ``libel'', an official newspaper reported on Monday.

Wang Jun heads the giant China International Trust and Investment Corp. and is president of Poly technologies, a Chinese military-owned arms trading company under investigation for illegally smuggling assault rifles into the US.

His presence at a coffee gathering of political donors with President Clinton last year raised suspicions that he had been involved in funneling Chinese money to US politicians.

The newspaper said that in a statement obtained on Sunday, Wang repeated earlier denials of any involvement or wrongdoing in connection with the campaign fund-raising controversy.

``The libel represents an ulterior attempt by a tiny number of people who try to make use of some anti-China force and mass media in the US to create new barriers to disrupt the Sino-US relationship,'' Wang was quoted as saying.

Wang's 1996 invitation to the White House was arranged by Democratic Party fund-raiser Charles Yah Lin Trie, a former Little Rock, Arkansas, restaurant owner and friend of Clinton's who was the source of questionable foreign-linked donations to the Democratic Party and to Clinton's legal defence fund.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.