Bo Xilai police chief to face trial next week

Bo Xilai's former right-hand man will go on trial next week, a court said, the latest stage in a scandal that has rocked China's Communist party before a once-a-decade power handover. Wang Lijun's flight to the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu earlier this year kicked off the scandal that brought down Bo, a high-profile Communist leader, and led to his wife Gu Kailai's conviction for murder. Wang, who worked as police chief in Chongqing, the Chinese city Bo ran until his downfall, was detained after he fled to the consulate under cover of darkness and reportedly told US diplomats of his suspicions about Gu. "Wang Lijun's case will be heard on September 18," a spokesman for the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court on Friday told AFP of Wang's trial on bribery, defection and abuse of power charges. China's official Xinhua news agency quoted an indictment earlier this month which said Wang had "known beforehand" that Gu was under "serious suspicion" of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, without taking action. Bo Xilai's former right-hand man will go on trial next week, a court said, the latest stage in a scandal that has rocked China's Communist party before a once-a-decade power handover. Wang Lijun's flight to the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu earlier this year kicked off the scandal that brought down Bo, a high-profile Communist leader, and led to his wife Gu Kailai's conviction for murder. Wang, who worked as police chief in Chongqing, the Chinese city Bo ran until his downfall, was detained after he fled to the consulate under cover of darkness and reportedly told US diplomats of his suspicions about Gu. "Wang Lijun's case will be heard on September 18," a spokesman for the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court on Friday told AFP of Wang's trial on bribery, defection and abuse of power charges. China's official Xinhua news agency quoted an indictment earlier this month which said Wang had "known beforehand" that Gu was under "serious suspicion" of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, without taking action. Bo Xilai's former right-hand man will go on trial next week, a court said, the latest stage in a scandal that has rocked China's Communist party before a once-a-decade power handover. Wang Lijun's flight to the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu earlier this year kicked off the scandal that brought down Bo, a high-profile Communist leader, and led to his wife Gu Kailai's conviction for murder. Wang, who worked as police chief in Chongqing, the Chinese city Bo ran until his downfall, was detained after he fled to the consulate under cover of darkness and reportedly told US diplomats of his suspicions about Gu. "Wang Lijun's case will be heard on September 18," a spokesman for the Chengdu Intermediate People's Court on Friday told AFP of Wang's trial on bribery, defection and abuse of power charges. China's official Xinhua news agency quoted an indictment earlier this month which said Wang had "known beforehand" that Gu was under "serious suspicion" of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, without taking action.