Key Figure Is Charged in Scandal That Felled Bo Xilai
The once-powerful police officer at the center of a scandal that felled the senior Communist leader Bo Xilai was charged Wednesday with defection, abuse of power and corruption.
The charges against Wang Lijun, the former police chief and vice mayor of the southwestern city-state of Chongqing, stemmed from his flight in February to the United States Consulate in Chengdu, where he told American diplomats that Mr. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, had murdered a British businessman, Neil Heywood.
The allegations eventually leaked and Mr. Bo, the Chongqing party secretary and a Politburo member, fell from power. His whereabouts are unknown, and he has not been charged with any wrongdoing. His wife was recently convicted of poisoning Mr. Heywood.
As in the case against Ms. Gu, the way the charges were laid out against Mr. Wang suggests to some analysts that Mr. Bo may be treated relatively leniently, though his fate remains uncertain. He was not mentioned in the official Xinhua news agency report, possibly implying that he might not be linked to Mr. Wang’s crimes.