China has laid charges against the police chief who triggered its biggest political crisis in years, moving a step closer to forming an official verdict on the scandal at its heart.
Wang Lijun, the former police chief in the city of Chongqing in south-west China, has been charged with defection, abuse of power and taking bribes,the official Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
The charges against Mr Wang come just six weeks before China is expected to hold a Communist party congress in which the country’s leaders for the next decade will be unveiled. The party wants to wrap up the case and the broader fallout from it before the congress takes place.