Wen family hits back at 'lies' on hidden fortune
Lawyers for family issue unprecedented rebuttal to newspaper claims of US$2.7b in assets and deny premier's mother had US$120m investment
Lawyers for Premier Wen Jiabao's family last night hit back at The New York Times for its explosive exposé about their wealth - the first time a top Chinese leader has issued a rebuttal to a foreign media report.
Two lawyers released a statement on behalf of Wen's family shortly before 11pm denying, among other things, that the premier's 90-year-old mother ever held a US$120 million investment in Ping An Insurance, a central claim of the Times' report.
In fact, the lawyers said, Wen's mother, Yang Zhiyun, had "never had other income or property" except for her government salary and pension. The claim was a critical element of the newspaper's article, which estimated that Wen's extended family controlled a fortune of at least US$2.7 billion.
"The so-called 'hidden riches' of Wen Jiabao's family members in The New York Times' report does not exist," said the statement, first obtained by the Sunday Morning Post.
The lawyers, Bai Tao and Wang Weidong, said they would continue to "make clarifications regarding other untrue reports" by the newspaper and reserved the right to hold it "legally responsible". It is believed that the statement has also been sent to the Times, but the paper had not responded to a request for comment as of early this morning.