New York Times website blocked in China

Access to the New York Times’ English and Chinese websites were blocked in China shortly after the newspaper published a report on the vast family fortune of the country’s premier, Wen Jiabao. The story, which suggests Wen’s family used their influence to amass assets worth at least $2.7 billion, comes at a highly sensitive time weeks before a once-a-decade leadership transition. Potentially damaging to Wen and his supporters is how the story contradicts the leader’s carefully cultivated image as a humble populist. Details about the private lives and finances of China’s leaders are strictly off limits for the state-controlled Chinese press.