‘Hidden riches’: Wen’s kin deny report

“The so-called ‘hidden riches’ of Wen Jiabao’s family members in the New York Times’ report do not exist,” the statement said. “Some of Wen Jiabao’s family members have not engaged in business activities. Some were engaged in business activities,but they did not carry out any illegal business activity. They do not hold shares of any companies,” the Hong Kong-based media reports quoted the statement as saying.

Wen’s 90-year-old mother Yang Zhiyun — who,the NYT report alleged,had accumulated a lot of wealth,including $120 million investment in a large Chinese financial company — never had any income or property beyond her salary and pension,the statement said.

“Wen Jiabao has never played any role in the business activities of his family members,still less has he allowed his family members’ business activities to have any influence on his formulation and execution of policies,” it said.

The NYT had alleged in its report that in many cases the names of family members were “hidden behind layers of partnerships and investment vehicles involving friends,work colleagues and business partners”.

The lawyers’ statement said “other relatives of Wen Jiabao and the ‘friends’ and ‘colleagues’ of those relatives are responsible for all their own business activities.”

“We will continue to make clarifications regarding untrue reports by the New York Times,and reserve the right to hold it legally responsible,” it said. The NYT,however,said it stood by its story.

Eileen Murphy,a spokeswoman for the newspaper,wrote in an email published by the newspaper itself,“We are standing by our story,which we are incredibly proud of and which is an example of the quality investigative journalism The Times is known for.”