Bo Xilai’s Top Cop Gets 15 Years

Kevin Horan/Stone(BEIJING) -- China’s most famous ex-cop, Wang Lijun, the former police chief to fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai, was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for charges that included attempted defection to the United States and covering up a murder.

Wang’s flight into the U.S. consulate in southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in February helped trigger the biggest political scandal China has seen in a generation.

While charges of defection and bribery often carry a death sentence, Wang was expected to receive a lenient sentence because he was seen to have inadvertently done his country a service by exposing his former patron Bo’s wife Gu Kailai and her involvement in the murder of the British businessman Neil Heywood.  Gu was found guilty last month and was handed a suspended death sentence. That revelation also resulted in the ouster of Bo, a charismatic politician who was thought to be in line for a higher national leadership position this fall.

“On the one hand, Wang committed grave crimes, which might have been more serious than what was disclosed,” Hu Xingdou, professor of economics and China issues at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told ABC News. “But on the other hand, he saved China from being dealt a heavy blow to the ultra-left forces in China and rendered Bo’s Chongqing model of governance bankrupt.”

The court sentenced Wang for a series of crimes that total more than 15 years. The court did not explain the discrepancy.  The breakdown of the prison terms includes nine years for accepting 3.05 million yuan (less than $500,000) in bribes,  seven years for covering up the murder of Neil Heywood, two years for defection, and two years for running the illegal wiretaps while he was Chongqing police chief.

There may be hints that sentence may even be lighter. Wang’s lawyer Wang Yuncai told the Daily Telegraph after the sentencing there may be a possibility that her client may seek some form of medical parole.

“I cannot say how many years he will serve,” Wang’s lawyer told the British newspaper. “If he gets the chance to go to a hospital for a serious illness then there is no minimum sentence that he will have to serve.”

According to reports in the state media, Wang had originally helped Gu Kailai cover up the Heywood murder last November after she reportedly poisoned the Briton in his hotel room.

It wasn’t until Wang, who was also vice-mayor of Chongqing at the time, fell out with Bo that he attempted to defect to the U.S.

In China’s Xinhua News Agency’s account of Wang trial, it was revealed that when Wang finally confronted the “principal person” in charge of Chongqing  in late January with the evidence of  Heywood’s murder, Wang was “angrily rebuked and had his ears boxed.” Though he is not mentioned by name the “principal person” is taken to be Bo Xilai.

Fearing Bo’s retribution, Wang then made a run for the U.S. consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu and attempted to handover the evidence implicating Gu Kailai in the Heywood murder to American diplomats. After over 30 hours in the consulate, both the American and Chinese accounts said that Wang left the American mission on his volition and surrendered to Beijing authorities for protection.

With Gu Kailai and Wang Lijun’s trials now over, the focus is now trained on Bo, who has not been seen or heard from in public since his ouster in March.  At the time he was removed from his Communist Party posts because of “serious disciplinary violations” without mention of the Heywood murder.  However Xinhua’s reference to Bo in their account of the Wang trial could be seen as a sign that the case might have grown beyond the “disciplinary violations” and he may be dragged into the Heywood case as well.

“It hard to say what today’s verdict means for Bo,” professor Xingdou told ABC News. “Chinese politics is about compromise.  If his case is dealt with politically, he may not be arraigned.  However, if he’s dealt with judicially, it’s hard to say.”

Though removed from his posts, Bo was a popular leader when he was in Chongqing and still has his fair share of supporters in the Chinese government. Working out Bo’s ultimate fate will be less straight forward than that of his wife and his police chief.

It may also take a while to determine Bo’s fate. It will likely be delayed by the National Day holidays that take place in the first week of October, and the upcoming Chinese leadership transition, which could take place in mid-to-late October.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Panetta Steps into China-Japan Dispute over Islands

Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force(WASHINGTON) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has found himself caught in the middle of a simmering dispute between China and Japan over Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea that has boiled over into protests in numerous Chinese cities.

Panetta, who is traveling in the Far East on defense matters, admitted that the White House is concerned by the recent controversy, which threatens $345 billion in annual trade between China and Japan, and urged "calm and restraint on all sides."

The situation has grown more precarious in recent days with many Japanese companies on mainland China temporarily shutting down to avoid violence possibly directed at them.

Panetta also warned, "There is a danger that [with] a provocation of one kind or another, we could have a blow-up. When you play the game of who is in charge, it starts to get risky."

Claiming sovereignty over the uninhabited islands is a tricky matter since the Japanese refer to them as Senkaku while the Chinese call the islands Diaoyu.

Despite the uproar, Panetta is still going ahead with his meeting in Beijing with plans to meet Vice President Xi Jinping, who is widely speculated to become the country's next president despite rumors circulating about his health.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Tensions Rise in China-Japan Standoff

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(TOKYO) -- Six Chinese patrol boats entered territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku or Diaoyu islands on Friday, escalating tensions in an ongoing standoff between China and Japan.

China’s Foreign Ministry said the ships were dispatched to conduct maritime surveillance and a mission of “law enforcement over its maritime rights.”  The boats were ordered to leave, but operators on board one of the Chinese ships said, “Diaoyu is China’s territory,” according to the Japanese Coast Guard.

“We regret this intrusion,” chief government spokesman Osamu Fujimura said.  “We have urged the Chinese to leave immediately.”

Relations between Asia’s two biggest economies have plunged to new lows since Japan purchased the uninhabited rocky islets for $26 million earlier this week in the face of Chinese protests.  Tokyo has said the move was meant to prevent any development on the island, known as Senkaku in Japan, and ease tensions as a result.

China has urged Japan to revoke the purchase immediately, saying it violates Chinese sovereignty.

The ongoing dispute has prompted large-scale anti-Japanese protests throughout China, and threatens to affect trade and tourism in both countries.

An executive with Nissan said Sino-Japanese tensions had forced the company to pare marketing events in China, while some Chinese travel companies have stopped selling tour packages to Japan altogether.

A spokesman with the Japan National Tourism Organization said the number of Chinese visitors dropped nearly 20 percent when similar tensions flared up in 2010, but the immediate impact of the latest dispute was unclear.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai said at least four people have been injured as a result of anti-Japanese backlash.  In one incident, a Japanese man had hot noodles thrown in his face.  In another incident, a man was kicked several times after being asked whether he was Japanese, according to a statement posted by the Consulate General online.

On Thursday, a man in Shanghai’s Baoshin District reportedly set his Honda Civic on fire in front of a Honda dealership, unfurling signs that read “Japanese devils return home.”

In Japan, the city of Kobe scrapped a welcoming ceremony for 3,000 Chinese visitors at the request of the tour organizer, according to the Kyodo News.  At least two concerts planned to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic ties have been cancelled in Beijing and Tokyo.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Where in the World Is China’s Xi Jingping?

PAIROJ/AFP/Getty Images(TIANJIN, China) -- No one outside the Chinese government knows for sure where Vice President Xi Jingping is these days. The presumed leader in waiting has not been seen in public for over a week.

As the mystery over his whereabouts deepens, the government has yet to offer an official explanation or even acknowledge Xi’s absence.

This week, online searches for Xi have been blocked.  While it’s not unusual for the Chinese government to remain mum on the private lives of its public figures, it is odd that such a high-ranking government official would simply disappear so close to China’s once-in-a-decade transition of power.  The new government is expected to be announced next month.

Xi, who is 59, made his last public appearance at the Central Party School on Sept. 1 in Beijing. He looked to be in decent health, but a string of recently cancelled public appearances with visiting foreign dignitaries is fueling online speculation.

Last week, an appearance with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was cancelled at the last minute.  It was likely Mrs. Clinton’s last trip to China in her current capacity, and the two have worked relatively closely together several times during her tenure.  But the Foreign Ministry gave no explanation for Xi's absence nor did it explain his failure to meet with Sinapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong the same day.

On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt was in Beijing, but did not meet with Xi.  She later said in an interview that a meeting with the vice president had never been on her schedule, although a media advisory circulated on Sept. 5 reportedly listed a photo opportunity with the two leaders.

The South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday that an unnamed source told the Hong Kong-based newspaper that Xi had injured his back while swimming. A second source told the paper the same thing.  

A third source described Xi as “unwell,” but that it was not serious. That did not stop the netizen community from swapping speculation ranging from a car accident engineered by a political enemy to a soccer injury.

On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei dismissed any suggestion that Xi is suffering from a serious ailment.

But Kenneth Lieberthal, of the Brookings Institution, told the Wall Street Journal, “Something is amiss -- otherwise, they would have found an opportunity for him to be seen.  But whether he hurt his back or there is some other problem is something that at this point there is no way to know with confidence.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Yangtze River Turns Red and Turns Up a Mystery

ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images(CHONGQUING, China) -- For a river known as the “golden watercourse,” red is a strange color to see.

Yet that’s the shade turning up in the Yangtze River and officials have no idea why.

The red began appearing in the Yangtze, the longest and largest river in China and the third longest river in the world, Thursday near the city of Chongquing, where the Yangtze connects to the Jialin River.

The Yangtze, called “golden” because of the heavy rainfall it receives year-round, runs through Chongqing, Southwest China’s largest industrial and commercial center, also known as the “mountain city” because of the hills and peaks upon which its many buildings and factories stand.

The red color stopped some residents in their tracks. They put water from the river in bottles to save it.  Fishermen and other workers who rely on the river for income kept going about their business, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.

While the river’s red coloring was most pronounced near Chongqing it was also reported at several other points.

Officials are reportedly investigating the cause.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

5.6-Magnitude Quake Hits Southwestern China; Dozens Dead

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BEIJING) -- A 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook China's southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces on Friday, leaving at least 43 people dead and 150 others injured, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.1-mile deep quake struck one mile southwest of Jiaokui around noon local time.  Over a dozen aftershocks have been felt since, Xinhua reports.

Over 20,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, the news agency says, while more than 100,000 people have been evacuated.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Hillary Clinton Makes Likely Last Trip to China as Secretary of State

SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages(BEIJING) -- In what she described as very likely her last trip to China as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing Wednesday to mend fences in a somewhat battered U.S.-China relationship.

In the past year, the two countries have engaged in tense diplomatic negotiations over blind dissidents, trade regulations, disputed territories and human rights abuse.

Widely criticized in state-run media in the lead up to the visit, Clinton nonetheless described relations as being “on a strong and solid base.”  The two countries, she said, “literally consult almost on a daily basis.”

Among the talking points for Clinton’s visit is the issue of China’s territorial disputes with its Asian neighbors.  Recent tension over small but potentially energy-rich islands in the South China Sea has pitted China against ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The U.S. is pressing for China to resolve its issues multi-laterally. China is insisting on working bi-laterally. The general consensus is that bi-lateral negotiations give China the upper hand. Some say that could come back to haunt China, as the smaller Asian countries involved gravitate toward the U.S. for support.

Clinton clearly stated that the “U.S. does not take a position on territorial claims.”  However, she added that the U.S. has an interest in the “freedom of navigation and…we do believe it is everyone’s interest that [China and ASEAN] work together towards a shared goal on a code of conduct.”

Despite the Global Times headline, “Hillary, a Figure Who Deeply Exacerbates U.S.-China Mutual Distrust,” Clinton’s take would be quite the opposite.  She said that the two countries have been able to “explore areas of agreement and disagreement in a very open manner.”   

Clinton had been scheduled to meet with Hu’s likely successor, Xi Jingping.  At the last minute, the meeting was cancelled.  No official reason was given for the change in plans.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Xi is suffering from a bad back. He cancelled meetings with other high level officials from Singapore and Russia. Xi did send Clinton his wishes for a “productive meeting” via his foreign minister.

Clinton will continue her tour through Asia for the rest of the week.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Chinese Man Nearly Dies Mailing Himself to Girlfriend

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- A Chinese man who thought it'd be romantic to mail himself to his girlfriend at her office nearly had his romantic gesture turn deadly when the parcel in which he'd stowed away was delayed.

The U.K. Sun reports Hu Seng even dispatched a friend to snap his girlfriend's surprised reaction, but the pal instead captured the sight of her unwrapping Seng's unconscious body.  Paramedics were called to revive the man, who nearly suffocated to death.

"I didn't realize it would take so long," Seng reportedly said of the stunt.  "I tried to make a hole in the cardboard but it was too thick and I didn't want to spoil the surprise by shouting."

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

China Denies Scripting Dramatic Olympic Moment

MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Could the Chinese government have orchestrated one of the most dramatic moments at the London Olympics, right down to the tears state-television anchors cried on air?

A collective gasp was heard across China when its national hero, the track-and-field star Liu Xiang, hit the first hurdle in the men’s 110-meter race. As Liu crumbled to the ground, anchors on China’s Central Television, which carried the event live, froze. And then, as if on cue, CCTV’s lead anchor, Yang Jian, began to speak as best he could. At times choked up, he called Liu a “soldier” who bravely “charged the enemy’s fortress with his own body.”

Widespread reports in Chinese media claim that Yang knew full well that Liu had a serious injury before the race and, following government orders, had prepared four different versions of “live reaction” to read on air, depending on Liu’s performance. A headline this week in the Oriental Guardian read, “Liu Xiang knew, CCTV knew and leaders knew – only spectators foolishly waited to witness a moment of miracle.”

The government was aware that Liu had hurt his right Achilles (the same injury that kept him from competing at the Beijing Games in 2008) while training in Germany, according to the South China Morning Post. Liu had it checked in London after he arrived and was told it was serious. But soon after, according to the Post, the government issued a gag order on state television.

The Chinese government arguably had a vested interest in maintaining Liu’s superstar status.  China’s sports authority gets a cut of everything he makes in endorsements. Liu earned $25 million in 2008, according to Forbes magazine. His endorsement deals include Nike, BMW and more.

China’s sports authority has denied that it knowingly let him run with a potentially career-ending injury. Feng Shuyong, China’s athletic director for London 2012, told Xinhua News Agency, “if we could have predicted he would be injured, no one would have let Liu run.”

In Shanghai Thursday, Liu also defended his race, telling CCTV, “I didn’t expect the injury to happen. I think I was healthy when I was standing on the field.”

Choreographed or not, Liu practically had all of China in tears after his fall. Clearly in pain, he hopped toward the finish line, pausing only to kiss the final hurdle. He left the stadium in a wheelchair.

Liu has yet to say whether he will retire from the sport.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Wife of Ousted Chinese Leader Receives Suspended Death Sentence

Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(BEIJING) -- Precisely on time and as expected, the Intermediate People’s Court in Hefei, China, announced on Monday that Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted party chief Bo Xilai, received a suspended death sentence for the alleged murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

After the verdict was read, Gu had this short statement for the court: “I feel that the verdict is fair.  It fully embodies that our court showed a special respect to the law, to reality and especially to life.”

Officially, she was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.  In China, after two years the vast majority of these sentences are commuted to life in prison.  Gu could then be eligible for medical parole in seven years, or 2019.

The judgment was swift, coming just 10 days after her equally quick, one-day trial concluded.  Gu was widely expected to avoid the death penalty, analysts said, due to her family’s prominence as well as the picture painted by the prosecution of an unstable, anxious mother who only killed Heywood to protect her Harvard University son.

Her alleged accomplice, aide Zhang Xiaojun, received nine years in prison.  While no further information was available from the court, neither one is expected to appeal the decision.

Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in the southwestern city of Chongqing last November.  The prosecution claimed that Gu lured Heywood to a meeting to resolve a dispute over “economic interests” that somehow involved her son.  At the time he was a graduate student at Harvard University and based in Cambridge, Mass.  He has since completed his studies and is believed to be in the U.S.  

Gu, the prosecution told the court, got Heywood drunk and when he asked for water she poisoned him.  Earlier this year, the Daily Telegraph reported that the poison was cyanide.  The official Chinese report on the cause death was alcohol poisoning, but Heywood’s body was cremated before an official autopsy could be carried out.

It was only in February that a different story emerged after Wang Lijun, the former police chief in Chongqing, fled to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.  Reportedly fearing for his life because he knew too much, Wang presented U.S. officials with evidence that Gu was involved in Heywood's death.  He eventually received a police escort to Beijing, where he was taken into custody and placed on “vacation style leave” by the government.

In June, Wang stepped down as a party member, forfeiting his immunity.  He is expected to be tried for treason for his decision to enter the U.S. consulate without approval.

The rapid resolution of Gu’s case reflects the party’s determination to resolve the scandal as quickly and quietly as possible.  Observers suggest that Gu has taken the fall in this dramatic tale in order to protect the government from what could turn into significant public protest over massive corruption at the very top of party leadership.

Reports are the economic dispute that came between the family and Heywood involved millions upon millions of dollars.  Neither the family of Heywood nor British officials have confirmed details, but speculation repeatedly returns to Heywood’s role in assisting Bo and his wife in moving their wealth out of China and the cut he may have been demanding as a fee.

Observers say the last thing the leaders of the party want is for corruption charges to be a matter of public discussion.  That could seriously undermine party credibility just as the government prepares for a once-in-a-decade transition of power.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio