Washington and Beijing confirmed yesterday that the former right-hand man of Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai visited the US consulate in Chengdu on Monday.
The visit by Chongqing Vice-Mayor Wang Lijun and reports of his subsequent transfer to Beijing by the Communist Party's discipline watchdog have fuelled speculation about a behind-the-scenes power struggle in the run-up to a leadership reshuffle expected later this year.
Both sides declined to release details of the meeting, obviously non-diplomatic in nature, between US diplomats and Wang, who was the municipality's police chief until last week.
They also refused to comment further on Wang's rumoured bid to seek US asylum. In a statement issued late last night, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing confirmed that Wang had visited the US consulate.
'Vice-Mayor Wang entered the US Consulate General on February 6, stayed there for one day and left. The [Chinese] authorities are investigating the case,' the statement said.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that Wang had requested and attended a meeting at the consulate, but stressed that the famed triad-buster chose to leave afterwards.
