Versatility gives veteran Gonzalez solid opportunity with Giants

When I read the first paragraph of the above Wayne Graczyk article, my first thought was, "what about the Asian exclusion rule?

Well, after a couple of hours of Googling and looking through box scores, I was unable to find any evidence that the Asian exclusion rule was ever passed by the Powers-That-Be. I remember an envoy going to Taiwan and Korea to talk with the CPBL and KBO respectively to promote the idea, but I don't know of a follow up to that trip. And I was unable to find but a couple of instances where 4 foreigners played in a game for a single team, no games with 5 (Rhodes doesn't count for a different reason).

Was I imagining the talk about allowing 1 Asian player to be exempt from the foreign player limit starting last year? Has the rule been passed but nobody's used it? Or can someone point out an instance where it's been used? (I check all box scores where Seibu's Hsu pitched and a scattering of other games - nothing.)

I remember the idea of allowing an extra Asian player being floated by the owners, too. I can't recall seeing a story that it was adopted, though. I might be wrong, but I think it also got a lukewarm response from the Player's Association.