27°C | Light rain
Feb 22, 2012
To some of his most loyal supporters Wang Lijun's , fall from power is too difficult to believe.
"I was too shocked, unable to understand why, and my eyes stayed open wide in the evening when I learned Wang had hid himself in the US consulate in Chengdu ," said Huang Wei , a friend and prominent private entrepreneur.
The news that Wang spent a night with US diplomats and intelligence agents overwhelmed millions of Chinese at home and abroad. Speculation flew that he had sought political asylum after falling out with Bo Xilai , the top party official in the southwestern municipality.
As Bo's right-hand man, Wang had effectively carried out Bo's will in the sweeping crackdown on mafia-like organised crime that saw the detention of thousands of triad kingpins, their followers and their friends in the government and police who had protected them for years.
The unprecedented, massive campaign, though controversial, made Bo a household name across the nation and boosted his chances of promotion, but his falling-out with Wang has dealt an unexpected heavy blow to a political career that had seemed golden.
Bo had long been tipped as one of the front runners for a seat in the party's top decision-making Politburo Standing Committee during the power restructuring that will take place in the autumn.
Not at all the reticent and stern-faced crimebuster, Wang - according to Huang - was a pleasant-mannered senior police officer who truly wanted to make Chongqing a safer, more peaceful place.
"He saw me to the lift every time after I paid him a visit at his office," said Huang. "He spared no effort in reading huge amounts of petitioners' letters deep into the night before signing off with instructions and expectations which he would review later on."
When Wang's turned up at the US consulate, some guessed he had been persecuted or threatened by Bo. In response, the Chongqing municipal government said Wang was suffering from psychiatric problems as a result of overwork.
But Huang doubts the reports of a crack-up, saying Wang was always energetic and in high spirits.
"To me, [Wang's detention] still felt like a dream up until this moment. Sometimes I think it may have been nothing but groundless rumours."
Huang was not alone in harbouring such thoughts. A taxi driver who identified himself as Chen said Wang, though rarely seen, was known as a decent and competent official who had significantly lifted up the city's security level.
"Two of my fellow drivers were robbed and fatally stabbed separately in November 2007," said Chen, 42. "But I seldom saw any scuffles, not to mention murder, after Wang took charge of the police force in 2008."
Similar opinions were shared by nearly every Chongqing resident asked in the past few days for their views on Wang.
Still, a city police source said many of his fellow colleagues could not hide their joy over the removal of Wang, who they fault for driving them too hard and taking credit for their work.
"We have been told by our boss to keep the excitement to ourselves and not to set off firecrackers to celebrate Wang's downfall in public, or it may give rise to adverse political influence," the source said.
Alarm bells began ringing in May, when the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection began an investigation in Tieling , Liaoning province. Wang and Bo had both worked there and the probe centred on Gu Fengjie , who succeeded Wang as police chief.
A Beijing-based media source familiar with the Tieling case said the disciplinary watchdog might have obtained evidence of Wang's alleged corruption before Gu was given a relatively lenient sentence of 12 years late January.
Two days after Gu's verdict, Chongqing municipal government announced that Wang was no longer the city's police chief. Overseas media reports suggested that Bo had failed to protect Wang and chose to distance himself from his top aide.
But a well-informed Chongqing official said Bo was summoned to a private meeting with a top leader while spending the Lunar New Year with his family in Beijing.
"Bo has been told to deal with Wang's case as there is tangible evidence showing that he was corrupt when he was police chief in Tieling," the official said.
"Bo came back from Beijing the next day and called a meeting with the standing members of the Chongqing municipal party committee, before announcing Wang's removal from his post as the city's public security bureau chief."
chiyuk.choi@scmp.com Copyright (c) 2012. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.