An article published last week by The New York Times in English and Chinese was a bombshell dropped at a most sensitive time for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Whether The Times understood the article was a bombshell, and if so whether it was intended to damage one group or another, is not clear. Also unclear is whether The Times was either willingly or unwillingly used by those the article benefits.
The Times’ reporter claimed his innocence in a blog post. He said he writes on business and is no expert on China’s politics. He also said he personally did all of the research for the article, and none of the information in the article was fed to him.
The article detailed the alleged wealth of the family of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, which is claimed to be a fortune of US$2.7 billion. Immediately after publication, the premier said the article was inaccurate and hired lawyers.
In a Western democracy, such an article might be an embarrassment for a politician for a few days, but would have no real political impact. Things are different in China.
The wealth of the top officials of the CCP is a very sensitive subject. Most of those officials have gotten obscenely rich in the past few decades, and they all understand the Chinese people, whose standards of living have been suppressed in order to promote China’s export-based economy, will hate them for the wealth they have acquired.
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