China is blocking online searches about the Panama Papers

China's internet censors have cracked down on searches about the Panama Papers, a massive leak of documents that reportedly tie the relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping, to offshore companies used for tax evasion.

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

Reports indicate the law firm arranged offshore companies for relatives of at least eight present or past members of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China. Among those it mentioned was Xi's brother-in-law.

Searches for “Panama Papers” and "Panama documents" in Chinese bring up a warning that the results “may not accord with relevant laws and rules so can not be shown,” according to a report from the South China Morning Post.

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

Since the news first broke, censors have been working to block Chinese citizens from discussing the Panama Papers. 

As the news first surfaced on Monday morning, mentions of the phrase on Weibo (China's version of Twitter) were being wiped clean.

The censorship has run alongside denials from the government that the report holds water.

China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced the reports of high ranking Chinese officials being tied to the offshore activity as "groundless." 

Spokesman Hong Lei said he would not discuss the reports further and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated.

"For these groundless accusations, I have no comment." 

"For these groundless accusations, I have no comment," Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

State-run news outlets are ignoring reports on the revelations and their connection to China entirely, but the state-run 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 have 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.

Meanwhile, state run broadcasters are simply glossing over the Chinese connection. CCTV America, the English-language news channel run by Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television, reported on the papers on Monday. However the report focused on the fallout for Iceland's prime minister and makes only brief mention of China investigating. 

The government's response came as no surprise, but many Chinese are likely to have heard about the ICIJ reports by finding ways around the censors or by discussing them indirectly, said Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based independent historian and political observer.

"As usual, the first reaction of the Chinese government is to block the information from spreading," Zhang said.

Additional information from the Associated Press.

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