China squelches Panama reports on hidden wealth

The leaked documents name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping

China's Internet censors and state media outlets are squelching reports on hidden wealth drawn from documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm that name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping.

Searches for articles on websites and social media postings featuring the words "Panama documents" could not be opened on Tuesday to view their content.

However, some searches for Panama-related news resulted in stories mentioning soccer player Lionel Messi and others featured in the documents not related to China.

Meanwhile, the nationalistic tabloid Global Times published an editorial saying an unidentified "powerful force" was behind the document leak. It said the main targets were opponents of the West, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

The paper made no mention of any involvement by Chinese figures.