[SeaGypsy]

Close relatives of China's top leaders have used secretive offshore companies in tax havens that helped shroud the Communist elite's wealth, according to a massive cache of leaked financial records, posing a formidable challenge for President Xi Jinping, the country's avowed anti-corruption leader....


Mysteries

The leaked records disclose a wide array of Chinese nationals using offshore havens, often for business purposes tied to the state entities they run, such as for direct foreign investments in Latin America, where Chinese companies have been expanding operations for years. But in many cases, the offshore shell corporations set up by Chinese nationals are shrouded in questions that they refused to answer.

Among China's Politburo Standing Committee, the all-powerful group of seven (formerly nine) men who run the Communist Party and the country, relatives of at least five current or former members have incorporated companies in the Cook Islands or British Virgin Islands, the leaked records show.

Yves Tiberghien
UBC professor and Asia expert Yves Tiberghien says President Xi Jinping faces a dilemma over what to do with new revelations about Chinese elites' offshore dealings. (CBC)

The records include details of a BVI company 50 per cent owned by President Xi's brother-in-law Deng Jiagui. Deng is a multimillionaire real estate developer and an investor in metals used in cellphones and other electronics. The records show the other half of Excellence Effort Property Development was owned by yet another BVI company belonging to Li Wa and Li Xiaoping, property tycoons who made news in July by winning a $2.2-billion bid to purchase commercial real estate in Shenzhen.

The files also reveal that former premier Wen's son Wen Yunsong set up a BVI-registered company, Trend Gold Consultants, with help from the Hong Kong office of Credit Suisse in 2006. Wen Yunsong was the lone director and shareholder of the firm, which appears to have been dissolved in 2008.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/offshore-a ... -1.2504987

and found this little beauty of a site whilst stumbling around on the topic- don't think this has been previously linked here: (monoring the Great Chinese Firewall)

https://en.greatfire.org/

After Tuesday’s report Leaked Records Reveal Offshore Holdings of China’s Elite by ICIJ, China blocked a number of major newspaper websites. All websites below were blocked after publishing copies of the original report. The Great Firewall rarely blocks non-Chinese websites. Many of them have published the Chinese version of the report which probably explains the unusual development.

This could turn into anything from a bloodbath within the People's Party and revolution in the streets, or it may just disappear... (definitely a case of 'watch this space'...

[FoxV]

https://en.greatfire.org/
After Tuesday’s report Leaked Records...

wow, when I first heard the report I thought "ho hum,more corruption in China. What else is new?"

However if it's true that the elites are scrambling for an unprecedented coverup, it sounds like they are legitimately scared. "Rats in a cage" syndrome have made the Chinese people verging on anarchy since the "economic miracle" produced empty highrise complexes surrounded by shanty towns.

Is this the Black Swan that brings down China's house of cards? Definitely worth watching.

On a side note, the PBOC gave a liquidity injection into the banking system the other day. Sounds likes the cracks are showing through again.

hmm, speak of the devil...
"Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 150 points, as investors reacted to more signs of a slowdown in China. "
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/mar ... y/4791749/

[Tanada]

Fascinating report. I think it all boils down to which way the top of Government goes, crack down hard on the corruption or pretend you don't see a thing? From things I have heard elsewhere the new leadership is much more inclined to hunt down the corrupt and make public examples of them. Time will tell.

[ROCKMAN]

I’ve observed this situation for a while but from afar thru third parties more directly involved. I’ve developed my own mental image of a govt; it'smore like the Mafia than any other organization. There’s probably a name out there but I don’t know it so I’ll tag them as Power Cells. The comparison is with the Mafia families. When everything is working OK each PC takes care of business and makes theie illicit gains. But just like the mob power struggles developed. And eventually the strongest PC at the time puts the other PC’s in their place. And it usually happens with mass execution for crimes typically noted as “corruption”. As someone above noted: “Corruption in the Chinese govt! Who knew?” And in the past it typically wasn’t just a few dozen executed or imprisoned but thousands. No idea if this is another such battle between families or something bigger. I vaguely recall one such “house cleaning” 10 or so years ago over 20,000 were arrested or executed.

In one way this system is part of what has helped the Chinese to become so dominant in the world IMHO. The govt may be filled with crooks but they foster Chinese businesses so they will become successful. It’s difficult to become wealthy stealing from a poor company. But one that has $billion floating through it and you have the stroke to have those managers executed…now you’re talking a damn fine business plan. LOL

[Timo]

I doubt much will happen as a result of this, actually. Who controls the media in China? If the story gets leaked to the public, its spread will be minimal, and not near enough to cause a national uprising. Tiannamen Square was stopped in very short order. Jail the dissidents. Kill the protestors. Self-survival will prevent any one from rising up against the government of China.

[Keith_McClary]

More from the same site:
https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2014/jan/ ... edia-china

http://www.icij.org
http://www.theguardian.com
http://www.theglobalmail.org
http://www.sueddeutsche.de
http://www.lemonde.fr
http://www.elpais.com
http://www.cbc.ca
http://www.ndr.de

The blocks are unusually severe. First of all, while the Great Firewall is capable of blocking individual articles or sections, the above websites are all entirely blocked. For BBC, they only blocked the article, not the entire website. This is often the standard way of censoring reports. Why such a blanket block?

Second, English websites are not usually the targets of the censors. For example, the article posted in English by SCMP is not blocked. In the case of reports of Xi Jinping and Wen Jiabao a year ago, only Chinese websites and the original English websites were affected, not other media that reported on the stories.

Perhaps the severity of the block suggests that Chinese leaders are particularly concerned about this report.

Interestingly, few Chinese versions of foreign media are covering the story. There is no mention of it on Reuters Chinese, WSJ Chinese, FT Chinese or Nanzao. These websites have also all remained unblocked. Only NYT Chinese, which has blocked for a long time, covered the story. This suggests that the strategy of forcing the foreign press to self-censor by threatening with website blocks and visa denials is working.

Many people read the international media for business and technology news, so blocking entire websites will be noticed by those interested in the inner workings of the regime. Of course, most people believe whatever the media say, like everywhere.

[FoxV]

Of course, most people believe whatever the media say, like everywhere.

Really? Even in China were sometimes the lies are just too obvious to ignore?

[SeaGypsy]

I doubt much will happen as a result of this, actually. Who controls the media in China? If the story gets leaked to the public, its spread will be minimal, and not near enough to cause a national uprising. Tiannamen Square was stopped in very short order. Jail the dissidents. Kill the protestors. Self-survival will prevent any one from rising up against the government of China.

There was no effective internet when Tiannamen went off. Whilst reading this page at peakoil.com you are 2 clicks away from an 'unblockable' Chinese version of the story. Ever heard of i-phones? Generics? Well guess what- the Great Fire Wall ain't so great any longer.

[EdwinSm]

On a side note, the PBOC gave a liquidity injection into the banking system the other day. Sounds likes the cracks are showing through again.

I would not worry about this particular signal at THIS TIME. The Chinese New Year is coming , when it seem like the whole country takes a break and travels home. So the banks do need an injection of cash into the system to cope with this annual migration home and back to work. The money is needed so people are not stranded for lack of cash. Now, pumping liquidity in at other times might be a cause for concern.

[Keith_McClary]

Of course, most people believe whatever the media say, like everywhere.

Really? Even in China were sometimes the lies are just too obvious to ignore?

Yes, like everywhere. For example, "We invaded Iraq because of 9/11". Not meaning to hijack the thread, just a blatant example that comes to mind.

[SeaGypsy]

In today's news it appears the elite have not just their $billions in offshore holdings, but the 'People's Court' well in hand also:

A Chinese court has sentenced one of China's most prominent rights advocates to four years in prison after he campaigned for the rights of children from rural areas to be educated in cities and for officials to disclose their assets.

The Beijing Number 1 intermediate people's court found Xu Zhiyong guilty of "gathering a crowd to disturb public order", the court said on its official microblog.

Xu was tried on Wednesday.

Xu's jailing will send a stark warning to activists that the Chinese Communist Party will crush any challenge to its rule, especially from those who seek to organise campaigns.

It also diminishes hopes for meaningful political change, even as China pledges to embark on economic reforms.

Xu's lawyer Zhang Qingfang said he will meet Xu within the next two days to get his opinion on whether to lodge an appeal....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-26/c ... rs/5219586

[ROCKMAN]

SG - I go back to my analogy to the mafia. Imagine in the 30's if the mob had absolute control of the courts and the civil/military authorities. The only potential for one segment of TPTB (one "family") to lose power is to be rubbed out by another segment of TPTB. There is no battle over "corruption" going on in China now IMHO. More like territorial battles. As long as the various segments don't upset the apple cart China will have some advantage over the US. Their current system may not be very democratic but it is much more efficient at achieving it's goals.

[Subjectivist]

SG - I go back to my analogy to the mafia. Imagine in the 30's if the mob had absolute control of the courts and the civil/military authorities. The only potential for one segment of TPTB (one "family") to lose power is to be rubbed out by another segment of TPTB. There is no battle over "corruption" going on in China now IMHO. More like territorial battles. As long as the various segments don't upset the apple cart China will have some advantage over the US. Their current system may not be very democratic but it is much more efficient at achieving it's goals.

Efficiency has a lot going for it and I doubt the common everyday people in the Peoples Republic really care a heck of a lot. Just like most of us on here don't really know or care about the lives of politicians and bureacrats in our government.

[Rod_Cloutier]

I just saw this link titled Lehman 2.0:

http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/01/lehman ... or-3-days/

It appears that China’s credit crunch liquidity crisis ahead of this week’s impending default of Credit Equals Gold wealth product is intensifying, as the Chinese Central Bank has just ordered commercial banks to halt all domestic renminbi bank transfers for 3 days, and renminbi foreign currency conversions for 9 days!
Read more at http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/01/lehman ... PsxDbjp.99

I often wondered when the other shoe would drop...

[Peak_Yeast]

I just saw this link titled Lehman 2.0:
http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/01/lehman ... or-3-days/
Read more at http://www.maxkeiser.com/2014/01/lehman ... PsxDbjp.99

The links does not work?