The top party official in Chongqing yesterday denied allegations that he had used a high-profile crackdown on triads to climb the political ladder.
Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai made his first remarks about the challenge of fighting rampant underground activities in the municipality over the past 10 months during a meeting with dozens of visiting high-ranking executives from pro-Beijing media in Hong Kong yesterday morning.
Bo shrugged off widespread speculation that he was using the anti-triad campaign to pave his way for promotion, saying: 'These are nothing more than wild guesses which are far from what I've been thinking about.'
Police in Chongqing have smashed 14 crime syndicates, snared more than 3,000 people involved, including numerous triad bosses and more than 20 senior police officers, and confiscated criminal assets worth about 2.1 billion yuan (HK$2.39 billion) since June.
To the surprise of those at the meeting, Bo yesterday used the English term 'let bygones be bygones' to describe his achievements when he was party chief of the northeastern province of Liaoning and commerce minister before being transferred to Chongqing in late 2007.
In response to accusations that the ultimate goal of the crackdown was to accumulate political capital, Bo said critics who said such things were heartless, accusing them of ignoring the grievances and suffering of crime victims' relatives.
But Bo also added, after so many years in the scrutinising media limelight, 'I'm old enough to ignore [those negative comments].'