China Blocks New York Times in Response to Article About PM’s Wealth [NYT]

As the New York Times found out, it’s not a good idea to publish a controversial article about the “hidden riches” of China’s rulers.

China decided to block both the English and the Chinese versions of the website after an article about prime minister Wen Jiabao’s wealth was published.

The task of blocking a website is not a major issue for Chinese authorities, considering that they possess one of the world’s most sophisticated Internet censorship systems.

The New York Times was unblocked by China back in 2001 after the country’s former president met with the publication’s journalists and has been available to Chinese users ever since (with a few temporary exceptions).

The Times representatives hope that Chinese authorities will lift the restriction soon.

The New York Times isn’t the only major media outlet to have encountered such difficulties. A story published by Bloomberg back in June had a similar effect.