China charges former police chief with defection and power abuse
Source: AP
China says the former police chief at the heart of the country's biggest political scandal in years has been charged with defection, power abuse and bribe-taking.
The official Xinhua news agency gave no immediate details about the charges against Wang Lijun, but the announcement indicates a trial will come soon, moving the scandal closer to a resolution before a key transition to a new generation of national leaders this autumn.
Wang, who had also been a vice-mayor in the south-western city of Chongqing, set off the scandal by fleeing to the US consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu. That led to the dismissal of the city's powerful communist party boss Bo Xilai and the conviction of Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.
The announcement of the charges against Wang comes at the end of a brief visit to Beijing by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and will likely be seen by some as timed to send a message to Washington that China would strongly object to any foreign involvement in its internal politics.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/05/china-police-chief-defection