China limits ‘Panama Papers’ coverage and denounces tax haven revelations
Files in leaked documents reportedly reveal offshore firms linked to the families of China’s President Xi Jinping and other powerful current and former mainland leaders
China has moved to limit coverage of the massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm that may have exposed financial wrongdoing by some of the world’s rich and powerful, by blocking some search terms and removing certain stories online.
The “Panama Papers” revealed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures, including friends of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the President of the Ukraine.
The law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which says it has set up more than 240,000 offshore companies for clients around the globe, has denied any wrongdoing and called itself the victim of a campaign against privacy.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which has published some of the information from the documents said the files also revealed offshore companies linked to the families of China’s President Xi Jinping and other powerful current and former Chinese leaders.
Information that is negative to the US can always be minimised, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as [Vladimir] Putin, can get extra spin
While holding money in offshore companies is not illegal, journalists who received the leaked documents said they could provide evidence of wealth hidden for tax evasion, money laundering, sanctions busting, drug deals or other crimes.