BEIJING - The Chinese government condemned on Wednesday a report on the wealth of the country's elite being hidden in overseas tax havens as illogical and having ulterior motives, as the government blocked websites and censored mention of the story online.
The report, the result of an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, was published in newspapers, including Britain's Guardian and Spain's El Pais.
It said that the relatives of top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and the former premier, Wen Jiabao, were among members of China's elite making use of offshore havens like the British Virgin Islands.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the contents of the report.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, asked about the report, said he did "not know details of the situation". "But from the point of view of a reader, the logic in the relevant articles is hard for people to believe. This cannot but make people think there is an intent behind it," he told a daily news briefing.
Asked whether China would investigate these reports and approach the tax havens for details, Qin said: "Those who are clean are clean, and those who are dirty are dirty." He did not elaborate.
Neither the State Council Information Office, which is the Cabinet's news office, nor the Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog responded to requests for comment.
The websites of the Guardian, El Pais, Global Mail and Le Monde, which all carried the report, were inaccessible in China.
Censors appear to be working hard to prevent the topic being discussed on Sina Weibo, China's popular Twitter-like microblogging service, which is already subject to heavy censorship."
Interesting situation, especially when President Xi was mentioned too.
Lessons for me are:
1. like the Chinese spokeperson alluded to: whoever is clean is clean and whoever is dirty is dirty! Just that people will want to know if this is true or not! :-);
2. I can picture how difficult a situation it must be when one wants to BREAKOUT from a set pattern of corruption, a culture so ingrained that almost everyone said will be impossible to change. So while trying to do it, a lot of muds slinging will be going on. The one who wants to change MUST be cleaner than clean as those threatened by the change sought will be fighting like hell to preserve the status quo! Can President Xi be 'cleaner than clean'? YET, even when one is not totally clean but want to start all over, one must have the courage to do so. In fact, it is better for the one demanding the change to COME OUT clean instead of waiting for the attacks and muds throwing to start;
3. no matter how hard and how many thousands of manpower put to 'censor' the discussion in the cyberspace, there will be leakages as the internet is so vast! What will become of this situation IF not properly monitored and managed?
The report, the result of an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, was published in newspapers, including Britain's Guardian and Spain's El Pais.
It said that the relatives of top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and the former premier, Wen Jiabao, were among members of China's elite making use of offshore havens like the British Virgin Islands.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the contents of the report.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, asked about the report, said he did "not know details of the situation". "But from the point of view of a reader, the logic in the relevant articles is hard for people to believe. This cannot but make people think there is an intent behind it," he told a daily news briefing.
Asked whether China would investigate these reports and approach the tax havens for details, Qin said: "Those who are clean are clean, and those who are dirty are dirty." He did not elaborate.
Neither the State Council Information Office, which is the Cabinet's news office, nor the Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog responded to requests for comment.
The websites of the Guardian, El Pais, Global Mail and Le Monde, which all carried the report, were inaccessible in China.
Censors appear to be working hard to prevent the topic being discussed on Sina Weibo, China's popular Twitter-like microblogging service, which is already subject to heavy censorship."
Interesting situation, especially when President Xi was mentioned too.
Lessons for me are:
1. like the Chinese spokeperson alluded to: whoever is clean is clean and whoever is dirty is dirty! Just that people will want to know if this is true or not! :-);
2. I can picture how difficult a situation it must be when one wants to BREAKOUT from a set pattern of corruption, a culture so ingrained that almost everyone said will be impossible to change. So while trying to do it, a lot of muds slinging will be going on. The one who wants to change MUST be cleaner than clean as those threatened by the change sought will be fighting like hell to preserve the status quo! Can President Xi be 'cleaner than clean'? YET, even when one is not totally clean but want to start all over, one must have the courage to do so. In fact, it is better for the one demanding the change to COME OUT clean instead of waiting for the attacks and muds throwing to start;
3. no matter how hard and how many thousands of manpower put to 'censor' the discussion in the cyberspace, there will be leakages as the internet is so vast! What will become of this situation IF not properly monitored and managed?
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