Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2012-11-01
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| Wen Jiabao visits the headquarters of Volkswagen in April with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. (Photo/Xinhua) |
A US
diplomatic cable leaked by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks claims that China's
premier, Wen Jiabao, has been troubled by his family's questionable financial
dealings for at least the past five years.
The
business activities of Wen's family were brought under the spotlight last week
after the New York Times published an article claiming that relatives including
Wen's mother, wife and children control hidden wealth in excess of US$2.7
billion. China's foreign ministry condemned the article as a smear campaign,
while Wen's son Wen Yunsong, otherwise known as Winston Wen, retained two
lawyers to study the possibility of a defamation lawsuit.
It now
appears that Wen had known for quite some time that the scale and provenance of
his family's wealth might come back to haunt him. In a confidential telegram
dated Sept. 20, 2007, the deputy principal officer of the US consulate in
Shanghai, Simon Schuchat, referenced a source who claimed that the business
operations of Wen's family is "a major political headache" for the
premier.
In a
section titled "Wen Jiabao: Chain of Fools," Wen's wife Zhang Peili
was described as a heavyweight in China's jewelry industry, having once worked
as a high-level official of top diamond trading firm Daimengde. Though Zhang
resigned from her position after Wen was named premier in 2003, it was "in
name only" and she remains "very influential in the industry,"
the telegram said.
The
document also mentioned that Wen's daughter, Wen Ruchun, worked for the Beijing
branch of global financial services firm Credit Suisse for a year, while his
son Winston ran an investment fund.
"Wen's
wife and children all have the reputation as people who can 'get things done'
for the right price," said the report, which was published by WikiLeaks in
2009.
The source
stopped short of accusing Wen's family of taking bribes but said they are
"amenable to accepting exorbitant 'consulting fees' or selling inferior
diamonds at a significant mark-up."
The section
concluded by saying that Wen is "disgusted with his family's activities
but is either unable or unwilling to curtail them," adding that he would
like to divorce his wife but is "constrained" by the prominence of
his political position.
The name of
the source was redacted in the leaked document, although according to Duowei
News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese, the source was a China-born high-level
executive of an American corporation in Shanghai.
The
revelations formed part of a confidential US report looking into Chinese
leaders in the lead up to China's 17th National Congress, held in October 2007.
The 18th National Congress, where Wen and his cohort are expected to step aside
to make way for the next generation of Communist Party leaders, is scheduled to
commence in Beijing next week.
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