(Minghui.org) Wang Lijun, the former police chief and deputy mayor of Chongqing who fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu City seeking asylum, has caused the communist regime to enter a state of crisis. Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun have been actively persecuting Falun Gong and are just beginning to receive their due retribution, but events are far from over.
The following is a rough outline of the incident.
I. Different Viewpoints for the Reasons Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun Turned on Each Other
As Bo Xilai's henchman, Wang Lijun engaged in eavesdropping in the guise of the “hitting the black” campaign. He also wiretapped Bo Xilai, collected several recordings of Bo, and had inside information concerning the secrets of Bo and his family. On the surface the “Chongqing Incident” seemed to stem from the fact that Bo Xilai turned his back on his close ally Wang Lijun. But there are different opinions for the reason Bo and Wang turned on each other. For example:
1. On January 28, 2012, Wang Lijun told Bo that an investigation of related cases led to Bo’s family. One of his investigators submitted his resignation due to pressure. Bo became very angry and turned against Wang.
2. As Chongqing Chief of Police, Wang Lijun found that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was involved in the murder of English businessman Neil Heywood. When he reported this, Bo slapped Wang in the face. Within two days, 11 people in the investigation group that Wang organized were arrested, among whom two were beaten to death and one committed suicide. Afterwards, Wang made several copies of documents regarding Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang's secrets. He also threatened that if Zhou did not protect him, they would go down together. Overseas media revealed that Heywood was killed because he learned that Bo's family was secretly transferring assets, and he had an affair with Gu Kailai.
3. Wang Lijun became frightened after a conversation with officials from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), a secretive and powerful Party organ that investigates and punishes cadres suspected of corruption. He wanted to protect himself, and agreed to collect information on Bo. An informant in Beijing's top leadership told Bo about the investigation of Wang. So Bo threw Wang overboard and sacked him.
Whatever one's views, one thing is relatively clear: Wang Lijun had in hand extremely damaging secrets about Bo Xilai. He feared that Bo meant to assassinate him in order to silence him, so he fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, asking for asylum. Overseas websites learned from an insider that Bo had directly ordered Englishman Heywood killed. Zhang Xiaojun (a Bo family helper) was said to have carried it out. Bo is also responsible for 6 murders in Dalian and Chongqing.
II: Brief Introduction to the “Chongqing Incident”
On Feb. 2, Bo Xilai, the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Chongqing, relieved Wang of his duties as chief of police and demoted him from first vice mayor to seventh vice mayor, overseeing municipal trade and industry, technical supervision, science, education, culture and health, etc.
Chongqing authorities officially made this news known to the public on the same day.
Prior to the announcement of Wang's removal from his post on Feb. 2, Bo had 19 of Wang's close associates arrested, including his driver, chef, bodyguards and secretary, two of whom were killed, and one committed suicide. Wang's movements had been under Bo's surveillance.
On Feb. 3, a media agency revealed that Wang disclosed to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) Bo's wife Gu Kailai's corruption, e.g. transferring assets overseas, and the issues about Bo's son. According to overseas media, Gu Kailai transferred more than 8 billion in assets, to the U.S., the U.K. and other countries.
On Feb. 4, Daping Hospital of the Third Military Medical University published a document which claimed that Wang Lijun had suicidal tendencies. Analysts believe this meant that the Chongqing side (Bo Xilai) had begun preparing public opinion in advance of getting rid of Wang Lijun.
On Feb. 6, fearing Bo would assassinate him, Wang disguised himself as an old woman and escaped from the eyes of police who were secretly monitoring him. He fled, traveling four hours by car west to Chengdu, where he entered the U.S. Consulate. He spent over 24 hours in the consulate before he left. He filled out a form applying for political asylum inside the consulate.
Meanwhile, Bo discovered Wang’s escape and dispatched Mayor Huang Qifan. The morning of Feb. 7, Huang Qifan ordered the U.S. Consulate surrounded by 70 police cars, including armored vehicles.
On Feb. 7, Beijing's top leadership intervened, (it is said Hu Jintao was directly involved), and Huang Qifan withdrew. Wang Lijun left the consulate and was taken into protective custody by Qiu Jin, a vice minister of state security, who escorted Wang to Beijing.
On Feb. 7, journalist Jiang Weiping revealed that after Wang Lijun's flight to the U.S. Consulate was made known, many police officers in Chongqing were delighted. They said they had a sense of relief, and planned a celebration. They held a banquet and discussed Wang Lijun's sex scandals.
On Feb. 8, the Chongqing municipal government declared that Wang Lijun was receiving "vacation-style medical treatment". The Chongqing government's microblog said, “It is learned that Deputy-Mayor Wang Lijun is seriously indisposed due to long term overwork and intense mental stress. Currently he has been authorized to undergo vacation-style medical treatment.”
On Feb. 9, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that Wang Lijun had been to the U.S. Consulate, and stated that he left of his own “volition.”
On Feb. 9, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was forced to acknowledge Wang's visit to the U.S. consulate, and stated that he stayed there for over 24 hours before he left.
On Feb. 13, Xi Jinping flew to the U.S. to begin a five-day visit. During his stay in the U.S., a U.S. official who is familiar with China affairs revealed the main points of Wang Lijun's conversation at the U.S. Consulate. According to a report published on the Washington Free Beacon website, U.S. reporter Bill Gertz cited a U.S. official who said that Wang Lijun provided detailed information concerning the corruption of high-ranking CCP officials, links to organized crimes by his boss Bo Xilai, as well as the efforts of regime hardliners like Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai to upset the smooth succession of Xi Jinping. Later, Xi Jinping cast a critical vote in the Politburo Standing Committee to dismiss Bo Xilai.
Afterward, overseas media successively reported part of the contents of the documents that Wang Lijun had turned over to the U.S. Consulate. They included: (1) Relevant evidence (recordings and confidential materials) about Bo’s order and involvement in live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners as well as documents from the political and legislative systems concerning the harsh repression of Falun Gong and political dissidents. (2) An audiotape of Bo Xilai in conversation. On the tape, Bo said that former head of the CCP Jiang Zemin is the “current Empress Dowager Cixi”(a powerful and charismatic woman who unofficially but effectively controlled the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years, from 1861 to 1908). Bo described current CCP head Hu Jintao as the “Emperor Xian of Han,” the last emperor (reigned 189–220) of the Han Dynasty who was thought to be nothing more than a puppet, with even Han loyalists abusing his sovereignty. Bo also talked about Xi Jinping, ticketed to succeed Hu at the 18th Party Congress later this year. Bo said Xi is “Liu E’dou,” the infant name of Liu Shan, the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. Liu Shan was commonly perceived as an incapable, even retarded ruler. Bo said it is he that will lead the China into its future, not the current nine incompetent and mentally retarded members, nor the new “incompetent and mentally retarded” members selected by the current members. Bo referred to the nine members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the small group that rules China, and how they are expected to choose a new Standing Committee at the 18th Party Congress. (3) Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang plotted a coup to stop Xi Jinping from taking office.
On Feb. 28, in an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan confirmed the authenticity of the Wang Lijun incident, and said that the police vehicles that surrounded the U.S. Consulate had Sichuan Province license plates. But on March 5, the video of Phoenix TV's interview of Huang was deleted from the TV station's website.
In February, the CCP upper echelons held two related meetings, (exact date unknown). Wen Jiabao said that the Wang Lijun incident was a reflection of “obvious problems” existing in the work of the current Chongqing Municipal Committee over the past few years. He thought the central committee should conduct a thorough investigation of Chongqing's work in recent years. He Guoqiang and Li Keqiang basically agreed with Wen's opinions. Zhou Yongkang held that Wang Lijun's fleeing to the U.S. Consulate was an isolated incident, which would not negate Bo Xilai's achievements over the past few years. Li Changchun and Jia Qinglin basically agreed with Zhou's opinion. Hu Jintao kept silent on how to deal with Chongqing's problems, and Wu Bangguo did not take a stand, either.
On March 2, during the annual “two meetings”—the concurrently held National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, one of the spokespersons, Zhao Qizheng, said that Wang Lijun is currently under investigation by related departments. Wang Lijun submitted a 'request for absence,' as he would not be attending the National People’s Congress meeting held on March 5 in Beijing. But Bo Xilai would be coming, and he could be interviewed at that time.
On March 5, the first day of the two meetings, regarding the police surrounding the U.S. Consulate, in a separate interview with Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster that is loyal to Beijing, Chongqing Mayor Huang said, “I went with my secretary in one car.” “People said there were many police vehicles outside. Those vehicles all had Sichuan Province license plates.” On March 7, the Sichuan delegation responded, “The Sichuan Province Public Security Department didn't dispatch police forces to get involved in the Wang Lijun incident. Then who dispatched the Sichuan police there?” Analysts believe that Zhou Yongkang directly mobilized Sichuan police. At the critical moment, Zhou used the police in an unauthorized manner, going beyond his purview, which angered Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
On March 7, South China Morning Post, an English-language media in Hong Kong, cited a Sichuan Province news report which said that Hu Jintao had denounced Wang Lijun as a traitor to the Communist Party and the nation in an internal briefing relayed to high-level leaders of the two meetings a few days earlier.
On March 8, Bo Xilai was absent for the day's meeting at the National People’s Congress. Zhou Yongkang attended the Chongqing delegation meetings, and publicly gave his full support to Bo.
The following day on March 9, during the Chongqing media day at the National People’s Congress, Bo for the first time answered the media's questions on the Wang Lijun incident, claiming that Wang Lijun's leaving him was, “unexpected,” and “very sad,” and that he, “didn't use the right person.” Bo attempted to justify his “strike the black” movement in Chongqing, which labeled political enemies and businessmen as Mafia bosses and expeditiously jailed them, often by the thousands, while their assets were expropriated. Bo claimed that the movement enjoyed the involvement of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee (PLAC), and involved public security organs: the procuratorate, the courts, state security officials, and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). He said that it was not merely a local movement mobilized by Wang Lijun. When a reporter asked the sensitive question: “Why has Hu Jintao not paid a visit to Chongqing?” Bo replied, “We firmly believe the general secretary will one day visit Chongqing, and he will be happy upon seeing what’s going on there.” Bo's remarks were considered the fuse that caused Hu Jintao to decide to remove Bo from his post.
On March 13, during a brief meeting of the members of the Politburo Standing Committee, Xi Jinping made a stand in favor of the central committee carrying out a “complete and practical investigation” into the Chongqing issues. Wu Bangguo also expressed his support. It is reported that all members except Zhou Yongkang agreed to dismiss Bo Xilai from his positions. Zhou Yongkang was the only Politburo Standing Committee member in the Politburo that backed up Bo Xilai.
On March 14, Premier Wen Jiabao held a three-hour press conference at the close of the National People’s Congress. When answering the question about Wang Lijun, Wen Jiabao said that the Wang Lijun incident should be seriously investigated. He also said, “The present Chongqing municipal Party committee and the municipal government must reflect seriously and learn a lesson from the Wang Lijun incident.” He hinted that Chongqing's “singing red songs and hitting the black” campaigns are the “Cultural Revolution's vestiges.” The foreign media held that this was Wen Jiabao's “most severe” accusation against Bo Xilai, and at the same time he made an open challenge to Bo's supporter—former CCP Secretary General Jiang Zemin and current Central Political and Legislative Committee head Zhou Yongkang. Wen's remarks show that the CCP's top leaders are openly split.
On March 15, the central committee decided that Bo Xilai would no longer hold the concurrent post of Secretary of the CCP Chongqing Party Committee. Wang Lijun was removed from his post as Deputy Mayor of Chongqing. Politburo member and Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang would serve as Party Secretary of Chongqing. Sources said that Bo did not return to Chongqing after the conclusion of the two meetings, but was detained in Beijing.
On March 15, Chongqing Party Committee held a General Assembly of the city's leading cadres to convey and implement the Central Committee's decision to adjust and change the principle leaders of the Municipal Committee. Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan quickly turned on Bo, and exposed Bo’s dark secrets to the Central Committee. At the Chongqing municipal government meeting on March 16 Huang said that his staff strongly support the central committee’s adjustments to the Chongqing municipal party committee and their decision regarding the Wang Lijun affair. Overseas media reported that Huang disclosed that Bo even promised Huang that he would make him the Premier of China in the future, should Bo become Secretary General.
On the evening of March 17, the ban was lifted for 6 hours on overseas The Epoch Times website, which had long been blocked. Netizens could see the blocked messages outside of China without using special software to circumvent the blockade. They were surprised to learn of the great tide of people quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
On March 18, according to insiders in Beijing, after Beijing's high-level leadership made a decision to remove Bo Xilai from his post, Wen Jiabao strongly insisted that a further investigation be carried out on a series of issues, including Bo Xilai's violations of law and discipline, Wang Lijun's flight and “singing red songs and hitting the black” campaigns. It is reported that Wen Jiabao's proposition was strongly supported by several members of the Standing Committee, including Xi Jinping, but Zhou Yongkong wanted to back up Bo Xilai, and confronted Wen. Various factions within the entire high-level CCP were nearly all involved in this incident.
On March 19, The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee launched an investigation of the Wang Lijun incident.
On the evening of March 19, messages spread on the Internet that the sound of gunfire was heard on Beijing's Chang'an avenue, as infighting took place in Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership compound in Beijing. It was said that Zhou Yongkang was “under control.” For a time, terms such as ‘Chang’an avenue,’ ‘gunshot’ and 'Zhou Yongkang' were blocked. Gunshots were also heard at midnight on March 21. It is reported that one party was the Beijing Garrison, and the other was armed police.
On March 21, the CCP suddenly ordered Zhou Yongkang's subordinates, nationwide secretaries of the Political and Legislative Committee (nationwide police chiefs and armed police political heads.) to come to Beijing for a meeting. Secretary of the Central Political and Legislative Committee Zhou Yongkang was not mentioned. On March 26, Zhou Yongkang “made an appearance” to speak at the meeting, but Zhou's speech was in a completely different tone, and obviously insincere.
On March 21, the UK's Financial Times reported that Zhou Yongkang “is already under some degree of control.”
On March 21, Baidu.com unblocked previously censored searches for “Shen Yun Performing Arts”, and showed search results for information on the official website for U.S.-based Shen Yun Performing Arts. It was blocked on March 22, but unblocked again on March 23. Baidu's intermittent censorship and unblocking, exposed the CCP's top leadership's intense struggles behind the scenes.
On March 22, Zhou Yongkang made a very strange “appearance” on CCTV’s nightly news, which sent a message to the country's political and legislative advocacy work meeting held in Shanghai.
On March 23, a sensitive period in Beijing, in Zhongnanhai and on Tiananmen Square, the police force was in a heightened state of alert. From Zhongnanhai to Xindan, over less than a kilometer distance, the region was in a state of high alert.
According to China News Service (CNS), on the afternoon of March 23, Politburo member, central political and legislative committee secretary Zhou Yongkang met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty in the Great Hall of the People. On March 23, at the same time that Zhou Yongkang made an appearance to “refute rumors,” more information was opened up when Baidu search results for Bloody Harvest, accessed the book written by David Kilgour and David Matas detailing their investigation into the forced, live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.
On March 24, it is reported that Wen Jiabao brought up redressing the reputations of former CCP leaders Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, besides mentioning several times a redress of the “June 4” incident among CCP top leadership. He also touched upon the CCP's most restricted issue, by proposing “redressing Falun Gong.” It is said that Wen Jiabo denounced organ harvesting and Bo Xilai’s involvement in it during an internal meeting at Zhongnanhai regarding the Wang Lijun incident. “Without anesthetics, the live harvesting of human organs and selling them for money—is this something that a human could do?” Wen said at the meeting of Party leaders, according to the source. “Things like this have happened for many years. ...”
During this period, Baidu.com and some media inside China unblocked searches for Zhuan Falun, the fundamental book of Falun Gong teachings, “live organ harvesting,” “Shen Yun” and other key search terms.
On March 29, news of “Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai conspiring to oust Xi Jinping” surprisingly appeared on Baidu. On March 30, a video about Hong Kong's “Quitting the CCP Parade” could be accessed on Baidu.
On March 30, the UK media The Times said that British senior officials acknowledged that the death of Englishman Neil Heywood was linked to Bo Xilai, who had been relieved shortly before of his duties as Chongqing's Party Secretary.
On the afternoon of April 10, Reuters first published a report which stated that Bo Xilai had been suspended from the Politburo and all Central Party committees and was being investigated. China’s state mouthpiece media Xinhua announced on April 10 at 11:00 p.m. that the Party Central had removed Bo Xilai from his positions in the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee (CCPCC) and the Politburo. A minute later, Xinhua announced, “Gu Kailai (Bo‘s wife) and Zhang Xiaojun (Bo's family helper) are suspected of an intentional homicide offense and have been transferred to a judicial organization.”
In the Xinhua article about Bo’s wife's arrest, Gu Kailai is referred to as, “Bo-Gu Kailai” which indicates that authorities may be attempting to implicate Bo in the murder of Heywood. Analysts pointed out that the CCP attempted to cover up two important issues with this announcement. One is that Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai plotted a coup to upset the smooth succession of Xi Jinping; the other is that the CCP top leadership's infighting over the past years has focused on the Falun Gong issue, and there have been serious differences regarding the persecution of Falun Gong.
On April 11, more information was revealed via overseas media regarding Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai: For example:
(1) Nan'an District Party Secretary Xia Deliang in Chongqing, who has been arrested, confessed that he had prepared potassium cyanide, a poison that kills within minutes in tiny doses, to murder Heywood. Xia also admitted that he bribed Gu Kailai with 30 million yuan in order to get promoted to vice-mayor. An initial investigation revealed that during the past two years, Bo Xilai had received 1 billion yuan in bribes from officials who were promoted in Chongqing through Gu Kailai.
(2) Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun set up a mental hospital in Chongqing, where 1,300 people who had been “criminalized for their free speech” are currently incarcerated.
(3) Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun had been active in persecuting Falun Gong. They were also suspected of getting involved in harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.
(4) Some analysts said that Heywood discovered Bo Xilai's coup conspiracy in the process of helping Bo's family transfer assets overseas, and that's why Bo intended to kill Heywood. Bo abetted his wife Gu Kailai in executing the murder while he remained behind-the-scenes.
(5) CCP insiders accused Bo Xilai of being linked to a list of sex scandals.
(6) CCP insiders revealed that Bo Xilai greatly admired Qin Shihuang and Mao Zedong, and proclaimed himself to be the third greatest figure in China.
(7) Gu Kailai possesses residency in Hong Kong and she is also a Permanent Resident of Singapore.
III. Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai Planned a Coup to Prevent Xi Jinping from Taking Office
Bo Xilai's ambition is not simply to become the Secretary of the Central Political and Legislative Committee, but to seize the highest power. In the Wang Lijun incident, the most explosive information is that Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang planned a conspiracy to stop Xi Jinping from taking office.
According to overseas media:
(1) Bo Xilai colluded with the military, claiming that at least two army units supported him, along with the huge armed police force and police force controlled by the political and legislative committee.
Foreign media said that Zhou Yongkong controls 2.5 million public security forces and 1.5 million armed police forces, while Hu Jintao controls only 2 million army forces. Some conventional weapons that the armed police and public security possess are more advanced than those of the military, with the exception of heavy-duty equipment which is less advanced than that of the military. It has not been a secret that the investment in maintaining “social stability” in China exceeded that spent on the military. So it is realistic and feasible that Zhou and Bo plotted to launch a police coup to force Xi Jinping to give up the position, as disclosed by Wang Lijun to the U.S. Consulate.
(2) What shocked the CCP's highest authorities is that Wang Lijun infiltrated the Central Guard Bureau, so much so that he was privy to their movements and private conversations. Wang Lijun was only a hit man under Bo and most likely didn’t have the ability to get contacts within the Central Guard Bureau, according to an analyst. The inner access may have been arranged by Zhou Yongkang—the Party’s head of security and one of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Wang Lijun liked to engage in eavesdropping, and was also a so-called “hero against crime.” Wang also utilized many advanced police eavesdropping technologies. When the CCP Central Committee leaders visited Chongqing, they were being wiretapped, which further led to the leakage of secrets from Zhongnanhai.
When Xi Jinping, He Guoqiang, Li Yuanchao, Wu Bangguo, and others visited Chongqing, Wang Lijun arranged an eavesdropping operation, and reported to Bo Xilai the important information he had obtained through eavesdropping several times.
(3) Bo Xilai was suspected of paying Li Runtian, Wen Jiabao’s chief bodyguard and deputy director of the Central Guard Bureau to spy on the CCP's inner circle. Li “retired” on April 5.
(4) Bo Xilai bought the leftists with large sums of money, in order to tout his “Chongqing Model”—the political campaigns that involved arresting those accused of being gangsters and having people sing Maoist-era songs.
For example, Kong Qingdong, a professor from Beijing University, admitted that he received one million yuan (US$158,800 ) from Chongqing as a “research fund.” Yang Fan, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, and one of the creators of Utopia, a CCP leftist website, and long time supporter of Bo, has changed sides, and is now urging Chongqing not to declare in favor of sponsoring the leftists.
