But it is Wang Lijun who is believed to be the man who can reveal exactly what
happened to Mr Heywood, who was found dead in a Chongqing hotel room last
November. It was Mr Wang’s brief flight to the US Consulate in Chengdu in
western Sichuan province in February that triggered the CCP’s decision to
sack Mr Bo as Chongqing’s mayor.
Police sources close to his investigation have revealed that Mr Wang feared
for his life after he confronted Mr Bo about his suspicions of Mrs Gu’s
involvement in Mr Heywood’s death. Mr Wang’s eagerness to co-operate and
reveal the full extent of what went on in Chongqing during Mr Bo’s reign is
thought likely to save him from a treason charge and a possible death
sentence.
Mr Wang resigned from the NPC last Tuesday but it was only announced on
Saturday in a terse three-line statement from the official Xinhua News
Agency.
With China’s ruling communist party facing a once-in-a-decade leadership
change in late September, the CCP elite are keen for a line to be drawn
under Mr Bo’s downfall. Until his removal from power in March, Mr Bo was a
leading contender for a post on the nine-man standing committee of the
politburo, China’s cabinet.
Yet, the fallout from the scandal continues to spiral out of control. Mr Bo’s
position as one of the ‘princelings’ of the party, the sons of former
revolutionary heroes, has intensified the focus on how so many of them have
become massively wealthy, despite their frugal official salaries.
On Friday, Beijing blocked Bloomberg’s website in China after it revealed that
the family of Xi Jinping, the man expected to be China’s next President,
have a fortune of hundreds of millions held in company investments and Hong
Kong real estate.
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