Wang Lijun
The former police chief of Chongqing, a huge municipality with a
population almost 30 million people, on 6 February 2012, crossed over
the provincial border into neighbouring Sichuan province in disguise
and headed for the U.S. consulate in Chengdu. Soon after Wang Lijun
entered the American consulate, security forces surrounded the
building. Wang is said to have sought asylum, but the U.S. turned down
his request.
Wang spent the night in the U.S. consulate and allegedly offered
massive amounts of information to American officials regarding
corruption at the highest levels and possibly an insider’s take on
internal power struggles that are brewing in the People’s Republic of
China. Wang left the Chengdu American consulate the next day and was
subsequently whisked away to Beijing where he is said to be on
“vacation therapy.”
The former police chief of Chongqing may have fallen out of favour
with Chongqing’s Communist Party leader Bo Xilai and might have been
driven into this desperate act. Bo Xilai became popular in the region
because of an anti-corruption crakdown he initiated several years
back. In this crackdown Wang Lijun was his lieutenant and confidant.
Last month President Hu Jintao said corruption threatens the party’s grip on power but, it “cannot be eradicated in the short term.”
For background information please read previous post: China: Chongqing deputy mayor in graft rumours
