Ex-police chief in China scandal sought US asylum

BEIJING (AP) - The ex-police chief at the centre of China's seamy political scandal asked United States (US) diplomats for asylum after he covered up a murder for the wife of the Communist Party boss but then grew estranged and feared for his life, the Chinese government said on Wednesday.

The account, released by the official Xinhua News Agency, is China's fullest explanation of the scandal that was triggered when Wang Lijun fled to a US consulate and that has buffeted the Chinese leadership in the seven months since.

Among the revelations in the account, the government said for the first time that Wang applied for asylum in writing - which US diplomats and officials have denied. It also is the first time the government verges on implicating Bo Xilai, a member of the senior leadership who was removed in disgrace in the fallout.

In the account, Wang, the police chief of the megacity of Chongqing, told the city's "top official in charge" on Jan 28 that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai was a suspect in the murder of a British businessman.