Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai has defended his controversial anti-triad crackdown with fervour and revolutionary rhetoric, in a move analysts say hints at his readiness to do whatever it takes to safeguard his pet project and his political capital.
Meanwhile, friends of lawyer Zhu Mingyong are getting worried, because both his phones have been switched off since July 31, and he has been out of touch since Saturday. Zhu went public two weeks ago with secret recordings showing ghastly torture wounds on his client, alleged crime boss Fan Qihang, in a last-gasp attempt to save him from a death sentence.
Beijing Z&G Law Firm, where Zhu works, said the lawyer was actually in the office last week and even on Monday morning. He called the firm yesterday afternoon to ask whether there were phone calls and mail for him. However, a close friend, a lawyer who requested not to be named, said he had made a pact with Zhu that, even if he went into hiding, he would get in touch every two days as a safety measure. Since a one-hour phone call on Saturday, he had not called, the friend said.
Zhu's state of incommunicado and Bo's rhetoric suggest the crackdown is still shrouded in huge controversy and political sensitivity, prompting concerns in the legal profession that the crackdown will only stray farther from the rule of law.
According to a Southern Metropolis News report earlier this week, Bo met 162 high school students from around the country in Chongqing on Sunday, during which he answered a range of questions, including one on the anti-triad crackdown, and another specifically on the case of Li Zhuang, the defence lawyer who was convicted of coaching crime boss Gong Gangmo to falsely claim that police had tortured him. Li was sentenced to 11/2 years' imprisonment after two speedy trials and forever lost his licence to practise.
'Some people praised our triad crackdown as bold and strategic, but our strategy is actually one of 'not having a strategy',' Bo said. 'We just charge ahead, handle the cases according to law, do whatever we should ... and not be swayed by what other people say in our determination to convict these criminals.'