Ping An threatens to sue NYT over report

Major Chinese insurer Ping An Insurance threatened legal action Monday after a New York Times story named the company as a major source for the massive wealth of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s family, Reuters reported. Ping An issued a statement that “noted recent media coverage related to the company, which contains serious inaccuracies” and said it “will take appropriate legal action commensurate with the damage and adverse impact the media reports have caused to the company.” While the newspaper was not named, a Ping An representative confirmed that the statement was directed at The New York Times. The newspaper published an article in October on the wealth of Wen’s family and reported in a follow-up story on Sunday that his relatives had gained low-cost stakes in the insurer after a government ruling prevented a breakup of the company. “We stand by our story,” a spokeswoman for the newspaper said.