How many of these tatted, gangster Chinese leaders can you identify? Five of them seem pretty obvious to me. The others?

Scroll down below for my answers, after I tell you that Redditors are having a fun little caption contest with this, which you should join. (Thanks to Tom Carter for posting the above via Sina Weibo user @毒醉紅塵.)

Also:

By the way, Brazzers is a porn site not blocked in China.

Left to right: Wen Jiabao, Mao Zedong, Li Peng, Deng Xiaoping (middle), Xi Jinping (very front), Jiang Zemin, Hu Yaobang. Two in the very back row are obscured by shadow, but one of them could almost be Barack Obama. Who should they be?

David Barboza’s expose on the extent of Wen Jiabao’s family’s “hidden riches” has won him a Putlizer. He beat out the Associated Press for its coverage in Syria and Richard Marosi of the Los Angeles Times for his work on deportation of Mexican immigrants.

Statement:

Awarded to David Barboza of The New York Times for his striking exposure of corruption at high levels of the Chinese government, including billions in secret wealth owned by relatives of the prime minister, well documented work published in the face of heavy pressure from the Chinese officials.

He is awarded $10,000.

Meanwhile, the New York Times remains blocked in China, which means the pool is still open: on what day will the new York Times be unblocked? Prize for the winner.

UPDATE, 5:42 pm: China’s foreign ministry has responded. Via Reuters:

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying repeated her government’s condemnation of the story.

“Our stance and attitude on this issue is very clear. We believe the relevant New York Times report had ulterior motives,” she told reporters in Beijing, without elaborating.

(H/T Shanghaiist)

Wen Jiabao gave his final speech before the National People’s Congress on Tuesday among a crowded room of delegates, then bowed three times to the audience and took his leave. At the end of the 12-day session, he, Hu Jintao and other party leaders will step aside as new leadership takes the reins, led by Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang as the new president and premier.

Despite criticism and a dip in popularity, Wen’s speech was, as always, measured and tactful. (Or as the Los Angeles Times’s Barbara Demick put it: “He read a 100-minute statement that was dull even by the standards of the country’s soporific political theater.”) The 100-minute speech set the stage for the incoming leadership, putting forth topics the new administration hopes to tackle in the coming year, particularly social issues, though he stopped short of addressing corruption. There are those who hoped to hear more on environmental reform to curtail serious problems like smog and pollution, but these issues received a cursory and vague mention.

“We should adhere to the basic state policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment and endeavor to promote green, circular and low-carbon development,” Wen said.

On other social issues: “We must make ensuring and improving people’s well-being the starting point and goal of all the government’s work, give entire priority to it, and strive to strengthen social development.”

More than half of the speech focused on accomplishments over the last few years. This long list, which turned tedious, fell on deaf ears. At one point, Mr. Wen went so far as to mention “31 airports and 602 shipping berths for 10,000-ton ships were built.”

He also focused on the economy, after seeing the country’s slowest growth in 13 years. “To expand individual consumption, we should enhance people’s ability to consume, keep their consumption expectations stable, boost their desire to consume, improve their consumption environment and make economic growth more consumption-driven,” he said. Consumption, consume, consumption, consumption. Is it any wonder that this happened?

Premier Wen is speaking. These men (CPPCC delegates, I think) are snoring: twitter.com/markmackinnon/…

— Mark MacKinnon/马凯さん (@markmackinnon) 2013年3月5日

Sources: LA Times | Reuters | BBC | NY Times

Chinese hackers, possibly using phishing software, reportedly broke into the New York Times’s computer network four months ago and installed malware that enabled them to access the personal computers of 53 employees. All indications are that the attack is a response to the paper’s investigation, led by Shanghai bureau chief David Barboza, into premier Wen Jiabao’s family fortunes. The NY Times says its computers were compromised as far back as September 13, just as they were wrapping up reporting for the Wen piece, which was published on October 25.

The concern here should not be for the New York Times, which had nothing stolen and no one harmed (and whose employees, frankly, should know better than to get phished). Near the middle of the NY Times’s four-page article, this:

What they appeared to be looking for were the names of people who might have provided information to Mr. Barboza.

Like a vindictive gangster, they were after informants. Chinese agents were after Chinese sources who could then be punished, since — like cops — the NY Times’s reporters are off limits. What we have is a high-level government equivalent of the street code “snitches get stitches.” Does anyone still wonder why journalists here are so rarely privy to leaked information from inside Zhongnanhai, China’s central government compound?

Thankfully, it appears that the New York Times used no anonymous sources for their Wen story:

Mr. Barboza’s research on the stories, as reported previously in The Times, was based on public records, including thousands of corporate documents through China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce. Those documents — which are available to lawyers and consulting firms for a nominal fee — were used to trace the business interests of relatives of Mr. Wen.

But this case vividly illustrates the difficulty of doing investigative reporting here. Journalists, like beat-level cops in American urban areas, seem woefully ill-equipped to protect their sources, who bear too much risk.

Also, this bit can’t be very comforting:

“They could have wreaked havoc on our systems,” said Marc Frons, the Times’s chief information officer. “But that was not what they were after.”

The attack came after the government issued ominous warnings:

After The Times learned of warnings from Chinese government officials that its investigation of the wealth of Mr. Wen’s relatives would “have consequences”…

Consequences. Think Bobby Baccalieri of The Sopranos walking into a bar, taking two shots of Wild Turkey, and pointing to his head to indicate where a bullet goes.

You can’t accuse the Chinese of not knowing gamesmanship, a bit of tit for tat — you investigate our leader, we’ll spy on yours. You hurt his family, we’ll hurt yours.

The glaring difference, of course, is Wen Jiabao is one of the most powerful people in a country of 1.4 billion. Someone should probably hold him accountable, right? You disagree, Central Politburo?

For the record, China denies it hacked the New York Times.

Asked about evidence that indicated the hacking originated in China, and possibly with the military, China’s Ministry of National Defense said, “Chinese laws prohibit any action including hacking that damages Internet security.” It added that “to accuse the Chinese military of launching cyberattacks without solid proof is unprofessional and baseless.”

Hackers in China Attacked The Times for Last 4 Months (NY Times)

We — you, me, the world — might see outgoing president Hu Jintao as a wan robot less charismatic than a cardboard box, but there was a time during this man’s life when he was sprightly, good-humored, and jovial. Let this video — of a speech he gave in 1984, in front of colorful balloons — be proof. It was uploaded two months ago to Youku (embedded after the jump for those in China), uncovered on Twitter yesterday.

Ten years old, Hu Jintao took the rostrum as the General Secretary and President of the Communist Party of China. Surely the corrosion of his soul — that personable and simpatico servant of the state – began in the years before his final ascent. We’re not sure when his better alter ego died, like a wild bird clipped and caged, its julienned body served up to factions that grew fat with disinterest in China’s long power game, but let us take a moment to mourn and remember. Hu Jintao deserves it. He was a human being once, like us — you, me, the world.

And let us hope — because he is human too — that Xi Jinping’s soul doesn’t suffer a likewise transformation, prodigal ruination.

Young #HuJintao on video from 1984, a speech full of passion & smile. he’s not always robotic – v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDQ…

— Offbeat China (@OffbeatChina) November 26, 2012

Hu Jintao too stiff to speak off the cuff?The video in 1984 shows it’s years of politics that has stiffened him.t.cn/zj4H7z8

— Ministry of Tofu 豆腐部 (@ministryoftofu) November 28, 2012

He looks like a man running for office. MT @ministryoftofu: Hu Jintao too stiff to speak off the cuff? t.cn/zj4H7z8

— Carlos Tejada (@CRTejada) November 28, 2012

Hu Jintao like you’ve never seen him before; (1984) v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDQ…

— Abdulkadir Alkan 哈康 (@ChinAnalyst) November 26, 2012

R.I.P. Leave your well wishes in the comment section.

Note: this image, which may be the best I’ve seen all week, has a side story that deserves its own post. Luckily, Tea Leaf Nation has written that post:

Since its posting on November 23, this simple image has been retweeted over 103,000 times. But perhaps chary of the discussion that would result, censors suspended the threaded comment function on the post. That means that Weibo users do not have an easy way to comment directly on the image or Wang’s assertion, which means no ad hocdiscussion forum can form around this very resonant image.

…It’s ironic that censors would revert to such tactics when faced with an image that could only burnish Chinese leadership in the public’s eyes… At least the image was seen far and wide in the Chinese blogosphere, although for Wen’s and (especially Hu’s) would-be image-makers, it’s too little, too late.

Just so you understand why that pic of Wen Jiabao & Hu Jintao matters: it was retweeted over 100,000 times.

— Emily Tang (@msemilytang) November 27, 2012

They’re already blocked, so fuck it, right? The New York Times has continued to delve into Wen Jiabao’s “hidden family fortunes,” following up on its original blockbuster that got the website blocked on the mainland. In “Lobbying, a Windfall and a Leader’s Family,” David Barbosa and co. report that Wen Jiabao was directly responsible for keeping the company from breaking up. In 1999,

“I humbly request that the vice premier lead and coordinate the matter from a higher level,” Ma Mingzhe, chairman of Ping An, implored in a letter to Mr. Wen that was reviewed by The New York Times.

Ping An was not broken up.

The rest, as they say, is history. Ping An became one of China’s largest financial companies, one which made Wen Jiabao’s family very, very rich. The NY Times offers this helpful infographic that shows the number of effective Ping An shares Wen’s family members owned (they did so through a series of other companies, notably the investment company Taihong). A more creative government would simply spin this as Wen being the most generous family man in the history of mankind. In a society more forgiving of these type of things, Wen could go before cameras and deliver a speech about how he isn’t ashamed to have used his connections in a interrelationship-based society to help his sister-in-law make a few million on the side, and his dear friend, the mother-in-law of his son, who was down on her luck and just needed a few million to get back on her feet. He could say that he’ll give all the money back but not the Tibetan mastiff, and perhaps we’ll all cheer his political acumen and call his speech Checkers 2.0.

The article isn’t as damning as the earlier one, which implied — in so many words, intended or not — that Wen was a hypocrite. This article makes no claims of broken laws or a smoking gun, and it’s coated in such financial-speak as to uninteresting to the layman — yet it has the establishment equally skittish, judging by their response:

In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry did not return calls seeking comment for this article. [...]

Neither Mr. Wen, who is expected to retire in March, nor Mr. Dai, who is now the head of the National Social Security Fund, could be reached for comment. [...]

After reviewing questions from The Times, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange declined to comment. The China Securities Regulatory Commission in Beijing did not respond to inquiries.

Poor Wen. People just can’t seem to forget him soon enough.

Nice one, Gramps Wen. Via South China Morning Post (above image by cartoonist Harry Harrison):

In a letter submitted to the Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s top decision-making body of which the premier is also a member, Wen asked for a formal inquiry into claims made by The New York Times.

A report on October 26 alleged his family had amassed at least US$2.7 billion of assets during his premiership. The Standing Committee had agreed to his request, the sources said.

Wen Jiabao orders inquiry into Wen Jiabao… that’s some Scanner Darkly shit there. SCMP’s money line:

It is unclear what the inquiry is likely to dig up, or when the results will be published, if at all.

Here are a few things more likely to happen than a conviction of Wen Jiabao, ordered by Wen Jiabao:

• Kim Jong-un practices conjugal loyalty to this wife.
• A third party wins a state in a US presidential election.
• ASEAN gets a single currency.
• Vladimir Putin rocks out to Pussy Riot.
• Cormac McCarthy writes a shitty novel.
• Hong Kong returns to British rule.
• Elvis joins the Rolling Stone’s 50th Anniversary Tour.
• Kate Upton hooks up with Jason Acuña.
• Kate Middleton poses nude in The Sun.
• Lionel Messi transfers to Real Madrid.
• Jurassic Park in real life.
• The Cubs win the World Series.

China Daily Show, get to work.

Meanwhile, it’s not too late to participate in our New York Times office pool – when will the website be blocked until? The nearest chosen date was November 10, while Kaiser Kuo has the backend at April 1, 2013.

(H/T Alicia, Dray)

The lawyers for the Wen Jiabao family issued an official statement yesterday regarding the New York Times’s recent piece that got the website harmonized inside China. It’s “a rare instance of a powerful Chinese political family responding directly to a foreign media report,” NY Times reports. But the lawyers, while trying to deny everything, actually deny nothing. Read the translated statement closely, as brought to you by SCMP:

Authorized Statement

Entrusted by the family members of Wen Jiabao, we hereby issue a statement regarding the New York Times’ untrue report about Wen Jiabao and his relatives:

I. The so-called “hidden riches” of Wen Jiabao’s family members in the New York Times’ report does not exist.

II. 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.

III. The mother of Wen Jiabao, except receiving salary/pension according to the regulation, has never had any income or property.

IV. 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.

V. Other relatives of Wen Jiabao and the “friends” and “colleagues” of those relative are responsible for all their own business activities.

VI. We will continue to make clarifications regarding untrue reports by the New York Times, and reserve the right to hold it legally responsible.

BAI Tao
Jun He Law Offices

WANG Weidong
Grandall Law Firm (Beijing)

October 27, 2012

We’d like to offer a translation of the translation:

I. Of course they don’t exist. They’re right out in the fucking open!

II. Some of Wen Jiabao’s family members don’t do business. These “some” — who don’t do business, or did you not hear us the first time? — do not hold shares of any companies. Allow us to quote someone who speaks at your level, so that you understand: “Can I make it any more obvious?” –Avril Lavigne

III. Wen Jiabao’s mother is a freeloader whose only good deed in life is giving birth to Wen Jiabao. That woman is a saint.

IV. Wen Jiabao is awesome.

V. Some of Wen Jiabao’s family and friends do business. Wen Jiabao does not speak, interact, or otherwise think about them. What, you think he has that kind of time?

VI. Go kill yourselves, you fucking Western media ingrates.

On what day will the NY Times homepage be unblocked in China? Please submit your answer either in the comment section or via email. You can also tweet at us. We will try our best to send a prize to the person who nails the correct date.

For context:

• Bloomberg has been blocked since July 2012.
• Sinocism has been blocked since June 2012.
• Blogspot has been blocked since May 2009.
• YouTube has been blocked since March 2009.
• Facebook has been blocked since July 2008.
• Wretch.cc has been blocked since August 2007.
• Pornhub remains unblocked.

NY Times was harmonized on Friday for this.

(H/T Gareth M.)

While everyone else was talking about Ai Weiwei, the New York Times had the temerity to publish an explosive report about Premier Wen Jiabao, probably the most popular and ostensibly clean politician in China. Grandpa Wen, as he’s affectionately called, has apparently made a lot of money for his family, but that should come as no surprise to anyone. But the Times is currently in Chinese Internet purgatory because it painstakingly detailed exactly how much money: “A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that the prime minister’s relatives, some of whom have a knack for aggressive deal-making, including his wife, have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion.” And it’s $2.7 billion that Wen’s family has taken pains to not disclose.

In case you’re wondering: no, the Foreign Ministry has not answered the NY Times’s calls.

You’ve already probably read the article, but we’ll go ahead and leave just this one excerpt:

The apparent efforts to conceal the wealth reflect the highly charged politics surrounding the country’s ruling elite, many of whom are also enormously wealthy but reluctant to draw attention to their riches. When Bloomberg News reported in June that the extended family of Vice President Xi Jinping, set to become China’s next president, had amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, the Chinese government blocked access inside the country to the Bloomberg Web site.