People's Republic of Offshore

[Angelina]

https://www.icij.org/offshore/leaked-records-reveal-offshore-holdings-chinas-elite#

Enjoy 清明节!

[gato]

So far, the most suspicious item is a transfer of an offshore holding company by the founder of the luxury watch company 新宇亨得利 to Jasmine Li for one dollar while Li was an undergrad at Stanford in 2010.

Jasmine Li is the granddaughter of Jia Qingling, former number 4 man on the Politiburo standing committee.

[Angelina]

This is where the data comes from

https://www.publicintegrity.org/about/our-work/supporters?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0&nsukey=inuBH0IblUh8sMgNrlK3D6NtAZbmhzon%2FPX3otrk75kUbW7b4a1TGrK8opBxoTzqf8P%2BqyNSXFx%2BZVogQz8Igg%3D%3D

[ZhangKaiRong]

Not surprising at all. Cash is god in China, and the elite's approach to deny it is ridiculous. I assume there are a lot more people in the Chinese elite who did offshore transactions but they were lucky enough to not be part of this current leakage.

[Angelina]

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iceland-has-forced-out-its-prime-minister-why-arent-we-protesting-like-them-a6970046.html?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0

I would rather the question was framed in a different way. Do you think it is morally defensible not to pay your full whack of taxes? How can it be right that you deprive the Exchequer of millions of pounds that should go to teaching our children or nursing our sick? It may be legal – and, until there is a consistent public outcry, it will continue to be so – but does that make it right? Of course not.

[Alex_Hart]

While I've been quite excited by the potential fallout from these leaks here in the west, I question whether it will be a significant piece of news in China (even if it gets through the Great Firewall!). Perhaps those of you who are residents in China had a different perspective, but it seems like the reaction to Wen Jiabo's family wealth was largely muted?