Former Billionaire LI Jun, With Bo Xilai and Wang Yang on Background

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FT Reporters, Secrets of a Succession War. The tale of a billionaire allegedly tortured in a local crime crackdown offers a rare glimpse into infighting among the political elite--and a hint of the country's future path if a powerful princeling realises his leadership ambitions. Financial Times, Mar 5, 2012.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36c9ff ... e-00144feabdc0.html

(a) Quote:

(i) "At the time he [LI Jun] was ranked among Chongqing’s 30 richest men. His extensive investments in property, petrol stations, nightclubs, finance and hotel management were earning combined annual revenues of about Rmb1bn ($159m), and he estimates his total assets at that time at about Rmb4.5bn. * * * [On March 5 2010, Mr Li was released after paying a fine of Rmb 40,043,000 to the military unit from which he [had[ bought the  Shangri-la land.] Within months of his release, with his business in tatters, Mr Li received an anonymous tip-off that he was about to be arrested again and, with the help of his wife, he managed to escape from another city in China to Hong Kong in October 2010. As soon as he landed he discovered his wife and 31 family members and company employees had been arrested immediately after his escape. His brother and nephew, to whom he had transferred his assets, were sentenced last year to respectively 18 and 13 years in prison for being 'mafia bosses,'  and the rest of his family and employees were given sentences ranging from eight months to several years. For helping him escape, his ex-wife was sentenced to one year in prison. The government seized virtually all his assets.

(ii) "Many political insiders and analysts argue that Mr Bo’s primary aim in the crackdown was to discredit Wang Yang, his predecessor as Chongqing party secretary and his main rival for a spot on the politburo standing committee. Most of the targeted Chongqing business people and officials had flourished under the administration of Wang Yang (who is unrelated to Wang Lijun). The most prominent casualty of the campaign was Wang Yang’s former deputy police chief, who was executed in July 2010.

(b) Excerpt in the window of print: 'When they told me I'd have to pay for my freedom I felt I had been kidnapped by a group of bandits'

(c) Speed read

* CLOUT CURBED  China is mesmerised by the reversal in the fortunes of Bo Xilai, until last month a frontrunner to join the country's most powerful body

* POWER PLOY  Political insiders argue that Mr Bo’s aim in his assault on 'organized crime' in the city of Chingqing was to discredit his main rival for a spot on the politburo standing committee

* COSTLY BENEFITS  Mr Bo's extensive social programmes demanded new sources of revenue, say Analysts and experts, and appropriating 'illegal' assets from local businesspeople was seen as a neat solution

(d) My comment:
(i) The quotation (Quote above) is selected by me.
(ii) The "Speed read" (in the words of newspaper) is meant to be a summary of the full-page report.
(iii) The report contains no unusual word or reference which would call for Wikipedia, say.
(iv) Ft Chinese does not publish a translation--yet. At the speediest, Ft Chinese publishes a translation the next day (London times), whcih means later today--if at all.