Opinion | Wen's opportunity for openness

For decades, overseas media have run countless articles containing serious allegations of political and commercial corruption against high-ranking Chinese officials. But for reasons beyond comprehension, mainland authorities and the officials singled out in such articles have rarely attempted to respond publicly to the allegations.

That's despite the fact that many of the articles are wild, unsubstantiated and quite damaging, not only to individual reputations but also to the reputation of the entire country in the eyes of the international community.

So it was very interesting to see that the family of Premier Wen Jiabao issued an unprecedented statement on Saturday night, hitting back at The New York Times for its explosive exposé about their wealth, while also threatening to sue the American newspaper. This may be the first time a top mainland leader has responded directly to an overseas media report.

As the public mulls over the political and legal implications, the move by the Wen family has raised hopes that the statement could mark a shift in the approach by mainland authorities towards overseas media reports, and more broadly, that this could prompt Chinese leaders to improve transparency and publicly address political scandals that are widely reported overseas.

One example of such a story involved a mysterious Ferrari crash in March that killed the son of the principal aide to President Hu Jintao and resulted in the apparent demotion of that aide, Ling Jihua. Many questions have gone unanswered amid attempts to cover up the accident.

Many analysts have rightly pointed out that the main allegations in The New York Times report about the Wen family's wealth are not really new, as they were previously reported by other overseas newspapers and websites, although Wen and his family did not then respond.