Rupert's history in China

Rupert and Wendi

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and his China ventures are the center of a decent piece of history writing at the International Herald Tribune, originally at the New York Times. While thorough and comprehensive, it hardly does offer any new insights, so we wonder why his News Corp. decided not to cooperate with the NYT and issued this statement:

“News Corp. has consistently cooperated with The New York Times in its coverage of the company. However, the agenda for this unprecedented series is so blatantly designed to further the Times’s commercial self interests — by undermining a direct competitor poised to become an even more formidable competitor — that it would be reckless of us to participate in their malicious assault. Ironically, The Times, by using its news pages to advance its own corporate business agenda, is doing the precise thing they accuse us of doing without any evidence.”

I could not see directly what triggered off that reaction. Anybody else?