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Choi Chi-yuk

Chongqing has appointed a new police chief, filling a hot seat in the Chinese megacity that over the past five years has been inextricably linked to the demise of not one but two of its former party bosses.
Deng Huilin, 51, former deputy police chief of Hubei province and an ex-general office director at the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, will take up the job, the Jiulongpo district government said in a statement released on Friday.
Ex-Chongqing Communist Party boss under investigation for corruption
He will work under Chen Miner – a trusted protégé of President Xi Jinping – who took over as Chongqing party boss from Sun Zhengcai. Sun was last week put under investigation for “serious party discipline violations”, the common euphemism for corruption.

According to a report by The Beijing News, until July 2015 Deng had spent most of his career in Hubei, though little is known about what he did between then and Friday’s statement.
Curse of Chongqing? Probe into Sun Zhengcai evokes memories of Bo Xilai’s dramatic fall
There appears to be no clear crossover in the lives or career paths of Deng and Chen, which might well help them both avoid following in the footsteps of their doomed predecessors.
In 2012, princeling Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai was a front runner to join China’s highest decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee. His dream ended, however, when he was betrayed by his long time aide and Chongqing’s then top cop, Wang Lijun.
Wang made international headlines after he took refuge in a US consulate in the neighbouring city of Chengdu in Sichuan, days after being sacked, and slapped, by Bo.

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His defection sparked China’s biggest political scandal in decades and resulted in a life sentence for Bo, as well as for his wife Gu Kailai. She was jailed for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.
Five years after Bo’s fall from grace, 53-year-old Sun, who was also seen as a strong contender for a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, is now under investigation after being sacked as Chongqing party boss on July 15.
Sudden fall of political star rearranges chess pieces of China’s ruling elite
No details of the probe have been released, but sources told the South China Morning Post that Sun was likely implicated by his friend and former top cop He Ting.

The sources said that Sun and He had been friends since their school days in Rongcheng, in eastern China’s Shandong province. Just a month before Sun’s abrupt dismissal, He, who was Wang’s immediate successor, was also mysteriously removed from his post.
The government has yet to say where He is now, but the veteran detective, 55, is widely believed to be under internal investigation, the sources said.
Praise for Bo Xilai in Chongqing as city faces fresh graft probe
“Just like what happened five years ago, when Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai was removed soon after his police chief, Wang Lijun, so Sun has been deposed after the dismissal of his top cop, He,” said a source close to the Chongqing government, who declined to be named.
“One of the allegations pitched against Sun is that when he was at the helm, he protected his old schoolmate from investigation,” the person said, adding that He had been a protégé of disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang.

The source added that he didn’t believe Sun himself had taken bribes during his time as Chongqing party boss, Jilin provincial party boss or agricultural minister.
China has reached a turning point in its history, Xi says
A second source, close to Chongqing police, agreed, saying Sun was likely implicated during the investigation into He, who was promoted by Zhou – a member of the Politburo Standing Committee from 2007 to 2012 – as a reward for his loyalty.
President Xi said in a keynote speech to party leaders in October that Zhou, Bo, former Central Military Commission vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, as well as disgraced presidential aide Ling Jihua had “all engaged in political conspiracy activities”.
In February, Sun was criticised by anti-corruption watchdog inspectors for failing to root out Bo’s “pernicious legacy”.
Chongqing still grappling with ‘pernicious legacy’ of Bo Xilai
“The remnants of [that] same clique could be seen as Bo’s legacy to a certain extent,” the police source said.
The government source added that Sun’s downfall might also be linked to his wife Hu Ying’s close ties with Ling’s wife Gu Liping.
Additional reporting by Viola Zhou


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Deng Huilin, pictured while serving as deputy police chief of Hubei province, has been named as the new police chief of Chongqing. Photo: Handout

China's former Chongqing Municipality Communist Party Secretary Bo Xilai adjusts his glasses during the opening ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People, in this March 3, 2012 file photo. Chinese President Hu Jintao has demanded senior Communist Party officials stifle tensions over the ousting of ambitious politician Bo Xilai and show unity as they prepare for a change of leadership, sources briefed on recent meetings said. To match Exclusive CHINA-POLITICS/ REUTERS/Jason Lee/Files (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS)

Sun Zhengcai, party chief of Jilin province at the group discussion of the Jilin Delegation to the 18th CPC Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 09, 2012. 09NOV12 Photo by Simon Song

He Ting, former vice mayor and top cop in Chongqing. Photo: Handout

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2011 file photo, then Chongqing city police chief Wang Lijun delivers a speech during the 2nd International Forensic Science Meeting in southwestern China's Chongqing city. Only a few people heard it, but when Bo Xilai, one of China’s most prominent politicians, slapped his police chief Wang across the face, it would end up reverberating far and wide. The smack unleashed tales of murder and conspiracy at the highest levels of the Communist Party - and eventually, the politician’s own undoing. Now the final chapter in the saga is about to unfold: a closely orchestrated trial, opening Thursday, Aug. 22. 2013, in which the 64-year-old Bo, former Communist Party boss of the megacity of Chongqing, is virtually assured of being convicted of corruption and abuse of power. (AP Photo/File) CHINA OUT

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