Panama Papers: China bemoans Western 'spin' of Putin allegations

China's Internet censors and state media outlets squelched reports Tuesday 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 Tuesday to view their content.

The blocking was not total, however, with some searches for Panama-related news resulted in stories mentioning soccer player Lionel Messi and others featured in the documents not related to China.

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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 Western media has taken control of the interpretation each time there has been such a document dump, and Washington has demonstrated particular influence in it. Information that is negative to the U.S. can always be minimized, while exposure of non-Western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin," said the newspaper published by the party's flagship People's Daily.

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

The reports by an international coalition of media outlets working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are based on documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, one of the world's biggest creators of shell companies.

Among their findings are that relatives of at least five past or present members of the ruling Communist Party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee have held companies registered in tax shelters the Cook Islands or British Virgin Islands.

Along with Xi, who has spearheaded a sweeping campaign against corruption at all levels, they include relatives of former premiers Wen Jiabao and Li Peng, ex-president Hu Jintao and one-time paramount leader Deng Xiaoping who oversaw China's transition from orthodox Marxism to a hybrid communist-capitalist system.

The reports also say China's oil industry that has been a main target of the anti-corruption drive is heavily involved in overseas shell companies.

A lack of legal guarantees in China has motivated many of the country's newly wealthy to hide their riches through complicated legal arrangements placing them beyond the reach of the authorities.