[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It was unusual because of the extraordinary level of discipline "no news" implies. As you said, (Wang Lijun) was the diplomatic equivalent of a prize catch. Something this big would normally lead to a choice gossip or two. Someone somewhere would hear or catch a glimpse of something and wouldn't be able to resist sharing the juicy tidbit. This time, nothing.

Sometimes, silence can be deafening.

Speak of the devil...

US officials saved Wang from Bo's men

Washington (April 18, Wed): On the evening of Feb 6, a vice-mayor of a major Chinese city who had a reputation as a crime fighter turned up at the American Consulate in Chengdu in an agitated state, telling a tale of corruption and murder that has ensnared the Obama administration in a scandal it wants nothing to do with.

The official, Mr Wang Lijun, sought asylum, fearing for his life even as Chinese security forces quickly surrounded the building and asked the American diplomats inside to turn him over.

Instead, after a frantic debate that reached the White House, Mr Wang stayed until he could arrange for an official from a Beijing ministry to come 36 hours later and escort him past the local security cordon.

The authorities from Beijing took him into custody, and he is now under investigation for divulging internal Chinese affairs to the Americans. If charged with and convicted of treason, he could face a death sentence.

According to Washington's version of events, the American diplomats who oversaw his brief, bizarre stay pre-empted any formal application for asylum because of the difficulties of spiriting him out of the country and questions about his eligibility.

Instead, American officials briefed on the event said the State Department shielded Mr Wang from almost certain arrest by police officers loyal to Mr Bo and ensured he could make his accusations in Beijing.

"He was not tossed out," a senior administration official said, referring to Mr Wang.

Mr Wang's arrival at the consulate could not have come at a more sensitive moment for the administration: Just a week before China's likely future leader, Mr Xi Jinping, was scheduled to visit Washington at the invitation of Vice-President Joseph Biden. Granting asylum to Mr Wang could have soured or scuttled Mr Xi's trip.

Mr Wang arrived with documents detailing accusations against Mr Bo and his wife, Gu Kailai, but he did not hand them over, the American officials said.

Mr Wang was allowed to make phone calls to officials in Beijing he hoped would help him. In the meantime, he regaled startled diplomats with a rambling but ultimately revealing discourse on the murky intersection of power, politics and corruption in China.

"Not everything was coherent, as you would expect," a Congressional official said, "but he did provide some good insights" into the episode that has been described by another Congressional official as "a Bourne Supremacy plot".

THE NEW YORK TIMES