Beijing: Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday sought a thorough probe into an embarrassing incident in which a Chinese official reportedly sought asylum in a US consulate after he fell out with a powerful Communist party leader.
Wang Lijun, a former police chief of Chongqing a fell out with Bo Xilai, a hardline faction leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and reportedly sought asylum into the US Consulate in Chengdu last month. Wang, who along with Bo cracked down hard on mafia gangs in Chongqing reportedly took the step to save his life after differences with Bo.
Admitting that the incident as serious and require a through probe, Wen Jiabao said the ruling Communist Party should introspect on it. The incident received high attention in China and the world, Wen said replying to question at his annual press conference here.
The central authorities have “taken this matter very seriously” and instructed relevant departments to start investigation immediately after this incident took place, he said and urged the current Party committee and municipal government of Chongqing to seriously reflect on the incident and learn lessons from it.
“As far as the result of the investigation and how this matter will be handled are concerned, an answer must be given to the people and the result of the investigation should be able to stand the test of law and history,” he said.
The embarrassing incident for the CPC took place as the party geared up for leadership change after a decade.
Bo is regarded as hardliner in the party as he attempted to revive Mao ideology, which is abandoned after the death of the firebrand leader in 1976 and replaced with more moderate model of his successor Deng Xiaoping.
Bo is a member of the 25-member outgoing politburo and regarded as e front runner to get elected to the all powerful nine-member standing committee in November this year. Many believe that the Wang incident has seriously damaged Bo’s chances to make it big in the new leadership change.
Bo himself told the media recently that “I truly never expected that he would leave like this. Wang Lijun is being investigated by the relevant central agencies. When the results are concluded, they will be released to everyone,” he said.
The National People’s Conference, China’s national legislature, concluded its nine-day long session on Wednesday.
“The session was successful, with the further accumulation of common understanding, clarification of goals and reinforcement of confidence,” Wu said in a speech delivered at the session’s closing meeting. (PTI)
The session resulted in a full representation of the will of the people and the main concepts of the Communist Party of China (CPC), he said. NPC deputies, with a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to their mission, exercised their duties as entrusted by the Constitution and law, he said.
At the session, the NPC adopted a number of important documents, including the government’s work report, central budget and national economic and social development plan for 2012.
While deliberating the government’s work report, deputies agreed that the country made progress in economic, political, cultural, social and environmental arenas in 2011, making for a good beginning for the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), Wu said.
The NPC also adopted several decisions on deputy elections for the the next NPC meeting as well as work reports for the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, he said. This year, China will carry out elections for deputies to the next NPC using the same ratio for rural and urban areas for the first time, Wu said. (PTI)