In an exhaustively researched exposé published yesterday evening, David Barboza revealed that family members of outgoing Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao have capitalized on his influence to the tune of $2.7 billion. Richard Burger reflects on what this means for Wen's "Grandpa Wen" image:
Wen has always been seen as "the good CCP leader." As if by magic, he was always on the scene as tragedies struck, be they earthquakes or floods or winter storms in Guangzhou at Chinese New Year time or high-speed rail crashes. … He was, ironically, a crusader against corruption and he was always positioned as the one who had "the people’s interests" at heart. This story delivers a crushing blow to such a carefully crafted image.
Rachel Lu rounds up the social media reactions from within China:
Rumors about Wen's wife and son using his influence to make money have been around for years, but the New York Times article both validates the rumors and puts a dollar figure. "The number is so large, I have no idea what that even means," wrote one commentator on Sina Weibo. "Just glanced at it, and I was completely blown away!!!! This is not just corruption, this is a black hole!!!" wrote another. Another also wrote on Weibo in utter disbelief, "The premier looks so kind and caring about the average people. How is it possible that he has got 2.7 billion USD!!!"
Evan Osnos frames what the news indicates about the destructiveness of China's crony capitalism:
When investors and diplomats consider the risks facing China, they often assume that its corruption is of the kind we saw in Korea and Taiwan (or Chicago, for that matter), in which a political machine pulls money out of the state to give to favored friends and businesses, but does not ultimately kill the goose that laid the golden egg. But when [sinologist Andrew] Wedeman looked at the data, he concluded, to his surprise, that “corruption in China more closely resembled corruption in Zaire than it did corruption in Japan.” In short, he found, “the evidence suggests that corruption in contemporary China is essentially anarchy.”
James Miles explores how this might affect the coming trial of former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai, who is charged with corruption. Meanwhile, China blocked the NYT and its newly launched Chinese edition early this morning (US eastern time), though there's some debate about the degree.
The Dish 