NYT journo expelled from China for exposé on Wen Jiabao’s family wealth

An Australian journalist working with The New York Times has been expelled from China in an apparent act of retaliation for reporting about the family wealth of former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.

After 15 years in China, including 12 as a reporter, Chris Buckley left Beijing on Monday with his wife and 12-year-old daughter, after authorities declined to renew his annual media accreditation and residence visa.

His expulsion followed an October 25 investigative report by a colleague at The New York Times that revealed Wen’s close relatives had acquired at least 2.7 billion dollars in assets, the Age reports.

Buckley has received no official explanation of why his application has not been accepted after a delay of more than two months, the report said.

According to the report, the New York Times report on Jiabao was one of a series of damaging foreign media reports about how leading Communist Party families have acquired enormous wealth, despite their professed socialist ideals.