Police chief in Chongqing put under investigation, sources say
He Ting oversaw law enforcement in the metropolis in the aftermath of a scandal that brought down local party chief Bo Xilai and his right-hand man, Wang Lijun. But it remains unclear why authorities want to question him
The top police officer in the large Chinese city of Chongqing has been put under investigation, sources with knowledge of the matter told the South China Morning Post, which could bring fresh uncertainty to the political power reshuffle later this year.
A source with the municipality who declined to be named said He Ting, the municipal police bureau chief and the executive deputy mayor, “was taken away by discipline inspection personnel for investigation on March 31”.
Authorities have not announced He’s whereabouts. His name has been omitted from official statements in recent weeks, he is no longer on the list of the local Communist Party leadership, and his biography was taken off the leadership profile section of the local government website this week.
A source who knew He told the Post He “had boasted about his close ties to Sun” and described the two as “friends for decades”, though the claim could not be independently verified. Sun and He come from the same hometown in Rongcheng county in Shandong province.
The position of Chongqing police chief has long been fraught with risk, as well as offering significant power. When Bo Xilai, a princeling once viewed as a potential rival to Chinese President Xi Jinping, became its party boss at the end of 2007, Bo reshuffled the police force, moving Wen Qiang from executive deputy police bureau chief to municipal justice bureau chief.