Read Online A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel by Wenguang Huang Pin Ho - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Wenguang Huang Pin Ho
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military land in Chongqing. The deal had supposedly offended a senior military officer who was a friend of Bo Xilai and had intended to sell the property to a relative. In December 2009, Li was picked up by police, who beat him repeatedly during questioning. Li said he was kept chained for days to a “tiger bench”—a metal chair specially designed to maximize pain—and his arms and legs were shackled while security agents pummeled him and demanded he confess. Held for three months at the secret “Militia Training Camp,” Li was released after agreeing to pay US $6.3 million in penalties. In October 2010, while on a business trip to Chengdu, Li was tipped off that he was about to be arrested again. He fled the next morning to Hong Kong, then later to Canada.
Meanwhile, Wang was accused of sexually abusing female police officers. In 2010, as he sought to reform the image of the police in Chongqing, he formed a “special police patrol unit” consisting of eighty young female university graduates, whose average age was twenty-four and average height was 5 feet 7 inches. They drove Volvo cars and dressed up in uniforms designed by Wang. Court papers indicated that Wang had sexually assaulted eight of the female officers. In addition, a police officer in Tieling claimed on the Internet in April 2012 that Wang had raped a policewoman while he worked in his home city. The policewoman, who subsequently became pregnant from the rape, filed a lawsuit against Wang but the local court refused to handle the case out of fear of Wang Lijun.
In 2011, a former police officer in Chongqing said Wang seemed invincible, “His ego ballooned. With Bo on his side, Wang Lijun was ready to attack anyone who dared criticize him.”
With such unchecked power vested in him and so many police officers, government officials, and businesspeople he had unfairly targeted, Wang’s downfall was inevitable. As the Chinese proverb says, “The mantis seizes the locust but does not see the yellow bird which is ready to snatch him from behind.”
THE SLAP IN THE FACE
I N MAY 2011, Bo Xilai made Wang Lijun Chongqing’s deputy mayor, but Wang knew that the position carried no substantial power unless he joined the Municipal Party Standing Committee, the city’s highest decision-making body. He actively lobbied both of the Bos for a promotion. He also invited visiting senior leaders to tour his “Smashing Black Campaign Victory Exhibition” and aggressively sought their praises, which he later used lavishly in his police newsletters.
Senior leaders in Beijing might feel obligated to utter positive remarks about the “Smashing Black” campaign, but many were wary, and shuddered at the prospect that Bo’s program could expand nationally and jeopardize their business interests. By the summer of 2011, more than 5,000 people had been detained or arrested. Several victims’ relatives had sent petitions to senior leaders recounting horror stories about the practices of torture, forced confessions, and confiscated assets. Many of the complaints and petitions reached Wang Yang, the party secretary of Guangdong province, and He Guoqiang, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, both predecessors of Bo in Chongqing. Many officials whom Wang had purged, imprisoned, or executed were also protégés or former colleagues of Wang Yang and He Guoqiang. However, the two senior leaders felt constrained and helpless because Bo Xilai was too powerful to tackle. They quietly bided their time.
An opportunity came in 2011 when the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection received anonymous letters from citizens in Tieling accusing Wang and his friends of embezzling public funds. One letter alleged that 450,000 yuan budgeted for construction were unaccounted for when Wang was police chief in Tieling.
He Guoqiang gave permission to his staff to act, and the move was carefully calculated—investigation would specifically target Wang’s friends.
Meanwhile, Wang was accused of sexually abusing female police officers. In 2010, as he sought to reform the image of the police in Chongqing, he formed a “special police patrol unit” consisting of eighty young female university graduates, whose average age was twenty-four and average height was 5 feet 7 inches. They drove Volvo cars and dressed up in uniforms designed by Wang. Court papers indicated that Wang had sexually assaulted eight of the female officers. In addition, a police officer in Tieling claimed on the Internet in April 2012 that Wang had raped a policewoman while he worked in his home city. The policewoman, who subsequently became pregnant from the rape, filed a lawsuit against Wang but the local court refused to handle the case out of fear of Wang Lijun.
In 2011, a former police officer in Chongqing said Wang seemed invincible, “His ego ballooned. With Bo on his side, Wang Lijun was ready to attack anyone who dared criticize him.”
With such unchecked power vested in him and so many police officers, government officials, and businesspeople he had unfairly targeted, Wang’s downfall was inevitable. As the Chinese proverb says, “The mantis seizes the locust but does not see the yellow bird which is ready to snatch him from behind.”
THE SLAP IN THE FACE
I N MAY 2011, Bo Xilai made Wang Lijun Chongqing’s deputy mayor, but Wang knew that the position carried no substantial power unless he joined the Municipal Party Standing Committee, the city’s highest decision-making body. He actively lobbied both of the Bos for a promotion. He also invited visiting senior leaders to tour his “Smashing Black Campaign Victory Exhibition” and aggressively sought their praises, which he later used lavishly in his police newsletters.
Senior leaders in Beijing might feel obligated to utter positive remarks about the “Smashing Black” campaign, but many were wary, and shuddered at the prospect that Bo’s program could expand nationally and jeopardize their business interests. By the summer of 2011, more than 5,000 people had been detained or arrested. Several victims’ relatives had sent petitions to senior leaders recounting horror stories about the practices of torture, forced confessions, and confiscated assets. Many of the complaints and petitions reached Wang Yang, the party secretary of Guangdong province, and He Guoqiang, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, both predecessors of Bo in Chongqing. Many officials whom Wang had purged, imprisoned, or executed were also protégés or former colleagues of Wang Yang and He Guoqiang. However, the two senior leaders felt constrained and helpless because Bo Xilai was too powerful to tackle. They quietly bided their time.
An opportunity came in 2011 when the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection received anonymous letters from citizens in Tieling accusing Wang and his friends of embezzling public funds. One letter alleged that 450,000 yuan budgeted for construction were unaccounted for when Wang was police chief in Tieling.
He Guoqiang gave permission to his staff to act, and the move was carefully calculated—investigation would specifically target Wang’s friends.
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