China's Communist Party To Probe Wen Family Wealth

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Petar Kujundzic/Reuters

China Communist Party To Probe Wen Family Wealth: SCMP -- Reuters

(Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party has launched an internal inquiry into allegations made by The New York Times that the family of Premier Wen Jiabao accumulated at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches", the South China Morning Post said on Monday.


Wen himself asked for the inquiry in a letter to the Politburo Standing Committee - the party's top decision-making body of which he is also a member - in an apparent move to clear his name, the Hong Kong daily said, citing unnamed sources.

Lawyers for the Wen family have rejected The New York Times' October 26 report, which says corporate and regulatory records show Wen's mother, siblings and children amassed most of their wealth since Wen became Vice Premier in 1998.

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My Comment: The New York Times article that exposed this scandal is here. While I would like to believe that China is evolving into a society that is governed by laws and accountability .... when it comes to the personal fortunes of the men who rule China .... that accountability is still far in the future.

Update: The ‘New York Times’ Takedown of Wen Jiabao and What It Means -- Elizabeth C. Economy, Council On Foreign Relations