NewLiberal blogger Li Chengpeng to sue Global Times for linking him to 'mafia' businessman

Li Chengpeng, a former soccer commentator and influential liberal blogger, said he was ready to take the Global Times newspaper to court after the nationalist daily implied on social media that he had connections with Liu Han, a Sichuan mining tycoon who was charged with running a mafia-style gang this week.

The newspaper's allegation centres on Li's flattering article on a school funded by Liu that survived an earthquake in Sichuan. The paper insinuated that the favourable portrait he gave Liu's work hinted at deeper ties between the two.

It is believed that Liu's case, described by the state news agency as the largest prosecution of a criminal gang by mainland authorities in recent years, is connected to the wider corruption probe into associates of retired security tsar Zhou Yongkang.

Liu, a well-known businessman in Sichuan who headed Sichuan Hanlong group, received favorable media coverage, including in Xinhua and Global Times, in 2008 after a school he helped build survived the devastating Sichuan earthquake while many others around collapsed.

Li visited Beichuan, one of the worst-hit regions, to aid survivors after the earthquake.