Chongqing Police Chief Escapes to Beijing Via US Consulate

On February 8th, the US State Department confirmed that Chongqing deputy mayor and police chief Wang Lijun did visit the US consulate in Chengdu.

According to official reports Wang is on so-called “therapeutic leave” due to over work. Some media speculate that caught in a power struggle within the party, Wang went to the consulate to claim asylum, but was retrieved by Chinese security forces surrounding the area. The US State Department says Wang left of his own accord but will not elaborate any further.

[Victoria Nuland, US State Department Spokesperson]:
"Wang Lijun did request a meeting at the U.S. consulate general in Chengdu earlier this week in his capacity as vice mayor. The meeting was scheduled. Our folks met with him. He did visit the consulate. And he later left the consulate of his own volition. So - and, you know, obviously, we don't talk about issues having to do with refugee status or asylum, et cetera.”

Wang is thought to have gone to the US consulate on February 6th. Shortly afterwards the building was surrounded by armed police. NTD China analyst Heng He explains that Wang was caught in the middle of a power struggle between the Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai and central authorities in Beijing. Wang viewed Beijing as a safe haven.

[Heng He, NTD China Analyst]:
“At that time, I don’t think he had the power or ability to get to Beijing, so the closest place and the safest place is the US consulate.”

But why was Wang so eager to escape? At one time, Bo Xilai held a high-level position in Liaoning province, a post that promised to see him promoted to CCP leadership in Beijing. However, he was viewed as extreme by some officials in Beijing and was seen as an inappropriate contender for a high position in the regime.

[Heng He, NTD China Analyst]:
“Because of his persecution of Falun Gong, deep, deep involvement of the persecution, some victims started to sue him in other countries, so he got some lawsuits. And recently Wikileaks revealed that Wen Jiabao said that he could not [be] promoted to vice premier, because his reputation, international reputation won’t give China a good image.”

Using his international scandal as an excuse, party leaders transferred Bo to Chongqing. However, once in Chongqing, Bo started planning how to return to center of power.

[Heng He, NTD China Analyst]:
“He was sent to Chongqing, that is far away from the center of power, political power, so he needed to find a way to get back, and the best way he knew at that time was to initiate a political campaign.”

Bo initiated two campaigns: a so-called “Red Songs” campaign to promote Maoist values and a “Beat the Black” campaign to stamp out organized crime.

Heng He believes that to start these campaigns, Bo needed a second-in-command who would closely follow his orders.

[Heng He, NTD China Analyst]:
“What he needed was a political campaign, he needs somebody who is not in his local circle but is bad enough to only follow his orders, not the law. That’s why he picked Wang Lijun.”

But Chinese central authorities, not local authorities, normally initiate political campaigns. Bo’s campaigns started to make those in the central leadership nervous, in addition their methods at stamping out organized crime were often outside the law and attracted an investigation.

[Heng He, NTD China Analyst]:
“They need to find some excuse to prevent Bo Xilai, or to totally get rid of him. So I think they started to collect information, and the best way is to start with Wang Lijun, because in this campaign Wang Lijun and Bo Xilai were like the same person. So if you get rid of this one, the other one can not survive. And at that moment, Bo Xilai got one step ahead. And tried before the central CCP sent someone to arrest Wang Lijun, he started to arrest people around Wang Lijun and Wang Lijun afraid because he knew Bo Xilai very well. He knew exactly that Bo Xilai would do anything including kill him to get rid of the evidence.”

So Wang saw he had no choice but to flee, spending a day at the US consulate in Chengdu, a city several hours away by car. Chongqing authorities did what they could to stop him, sending 70 police cars to surround the consulate where Wang was hidden. Still, Wang managed to elude them all, negotiating the terms of his escape with central authorities. It is rumored that an official from Beijing sent a vehicle to retrieve him in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Wang’s former comrade, Bo Xilai, now has even slimmer hopes of obtaining a position in central leadership in 2012.