揭秘王立軍在美領館里的36小時：美方官員稱他相當令人討厭

2012/11/8  消息來源：紐約時報

核心提示：根據沒有透露姓名的美國行政官員、國會助手和外交官提供的信息，前重慶市副市長兼公安局長王立軍(專題)在美國駐成都領事館短暫停留時，美方因為美中關係需要和諧、運送王立軍(專題)出境在操作上困難重重，以及王立軍(專題)很可能不符合避難條件而拒絕了他的庇護請求，同時根據國務院指示，領館為王立軍聯絡北京方面的官員提供了協助。王立軍沒有給美國人留下書面文件，但談到了中國的權力、政治和腐敗之間糾結不清的關係。

　　原文：Frenzied Hours for U.S. on Fate of a China Insider

　　作者：STEVEN LEE MYERS 和 MARK LANDLER

　　本文由"譯者"志願者翻譯並校對

　　華盛頓——在2月6日傍晚，重慶副市長——有著打黑盛名的王立軍出現在成都的美領館，他焦慮不安，講述了有關腐敗和謀殺的事件，讓奧巴馬政府陷入了不想攪進的一潭渾水。

　　中國的安全部隊很快包圍了美領館的建築，要求美國外交人員把王立軍交出來，而他則擔心自己的生命安全而尋求庇護。

　　最後，在一場激烈的上至白宮的辯論之後，王立軍在美領館中停留到他可以讓北京外交部的一名官員在36小時后趕到，護送他離開當地安全部隊劃下的警戒區。北京當局把他拘押了起來，現在他在接受調查，因為他把中國的事務透露給了美國人。如果他的"叛國罪"成立的話，他可能面臨死刑。

　　王立軍掌握的信息涉及薄熙來(專題)，到上個月為止，薄熙來(專題)還是重慶的黨委書記，他也是王立軍曾經的庇護人，後來薄王之間的反目讓王立軍前往領館尋求避難。這是據聽過簡報的美國行政官員、國會助手和外交官們的說法。

　　這種說法還包括：負責此事美國外交官認為，要把他帶出中國困難重重，同時對他是否符合政治庇護的條件也有疑問，因而先發制人地不把這次短暫的、奇怪的停留當成是任何尋求庇護的正式申請。他們說，國務院保護了他，沒有讓他被忠實於薄熙來(專題)的警察逮捕（儘管很險），並確保他可以向北京提出檢控。

　　這些控告讓薄熙來下台，他的妻子谷開來現在則因為謀殺英國商人尼爾·伍德而接受調查。這是一個世代以來，中國領導人們要面對的牽涉到美國和英國的最大丑聞。

　　一名高級政府官員說："他（指王立軍）不是被拋出去的。"

　　但是，一些國會中的共和黨人質疑奧巴馬政府錯誤地處理王立軍事件，把他交給了中國當局，而當時他想交給我們的是能影響中共最高層的權力鬥爭的爆炸性信息。

　　王立軍進入領館的時機對當局來說再敏感不過了：就在中國可能的未來領導人，習近平(專題)在副總統拜登的邀請下即將訪問華盛頓的前一周。如果接受王立軍的避難申請的話，習近平(專題)訪美有可能泡湯或生變。

　　即使是現在，被一名國會官員形容為"諜影重重"的這一事件也對[美中]關係造成了緊張風險，而白宮希望可以處理好中國的崛起，並能夠在有關北韓和伊朗核武控制、以及敘利亞政府鎮壓反對派等事件上獲得北京的支持。

　　結果，美國所能起的作用就是沉默不語。北京大使館的官員、國務院和白宮都拒絕公開置評王立軍和美國外交官的接觸，也閉口不談他對中國突如其來的內部政治動蕩的爆料。

　　亞洲協會美中關係中心的主任Orville Schell說："美國要是在中國的家族鬥爭中打什麼公開牌的話，那是極其愚蠢的。美國和中國非常需要和諧相處，如果有什麼是讓中國人神經緊張的話，那就是私人事務在外國人面前以一種令人尷尬的方式被公開了。"

　　眾議院對外事務委員會的女主席，Ileana Ros-Lehtinen（也是佛羅里達的一名共和黨人），在二月份向國務卿希拉里·柯林頓去信，要求公開所有和此案有關的外交電報、郵件和回憶記錄。這種情況下，她提出 的質疑有關"採取了什麼步驟來確保每個的國家利益和王立軍的個人安全"。國務院還沒有回復。

　　根據國務院的說法，美國不能給任何走進使館區的人授予庇護，因為要把一個人送出一個主權國家有著法律和實際上的複雜性。通常因為政治觀點或宗教信仰遭受迫害、尋求庇護的人要在所在國之外申請，無論是在美國本土還是第三國。

　　雖有例外，但很罕見。

　　1989年6月，中國的異議人士方勵之走進了北京的美國使館，這是天安門事件發生之後的第二天。使館先是拒絕，後來布希總統當局為他提供了避難，這種對峙持續了一年，直到中國方面以"接受治療"的名義允許他離境。（方勵之先生在4月6日於亞利桑那去世，享年76歲，點擊這裡查看更多。）

　　但是，這一案件非常不同。王立軍是重慶的副市長，在和薄熙來反目之前負責公安，他不是一名政治異議人士。當他是薄熙來最倚重的左膀右臂之一的時候，他在重慶因為無情和無視法律而名聲在外。

　　這些外交官員們感覺，這些都讓授予他庇護變得完全不可能。根據一名聽取了簡報的官員的說法（他和其他人一樣都沒有透露自己的姓名），他們告訴國務院，在通告了白宮的高層官員關於王立軍的情況之後，他們協助王立軍被轉移到北京，從而從一開始就避免了處理這一棘手問題。國務院作出了這樣的處理決定，而不是白宮的官員，具體是誰，他們則沒有說。

　　奧巴馬政府的前中國政策顧問Jeffrey A. Bader說：" 在中國發生天安門抗議當時向重要的人權標誌人物授予庇護是特別案例。這不應該被視作慣例，特別是對一名前省級公安官員，領館的外面還被數百名中國安全部隊包圍。"

　　成都的領館中有大約30名美國官員，管理簽證和中國西南的商業事務。官員們說，總領事何孟德（Peter Haymond）當時不在成都，這就把王立軍的事留給了下級處理。他們通報了北京的大使館，後者又通知了華盛頓。

　　美國官員們說，王立軍帶著一些詳細的控告薄熙來和谷開來的文件，但是他沒有交給美國人。內容無從知曉，不過一名官員說這些是在重慶進行公安調查時的技術性文件。王立軍被允許和北京的官員通電話，他希望他們可以幫助他。同時，他開始與外交官們零零散散地談了在中國權力、政治和腐敗之間糾結不清的關係。

　　一名國會的官員說："不是象預期得那麼連貫一致，不過他的確提供一些內幕信息。"而柯林頓政府的前中國顧問李侃如（Kenneth G. Lieberthal）則這麼說："當王立軍走進美領館的時候，有兩件事是確定的：這是件大事兒，還有就是，這是一位相當令人討厭的人物。走進來的可不是達賴喇嘛。"（譯註：在西方，達賴喇嘛尊者被普遍認為是令人尊敬的因為宗教和政治觀點而遭受迫害的人物，應被授予庇護。）

　　Frenzied Hours for U.S. on Fate of a China Insider

　　WASHINGTON — On the evening of Feb. 6, a vice mayor of a major Chinese city who had a reputation as a crime fighter turned up at the American Consulate in Chengdu in an agitated state, telling a tale of corruption and murder that has ensnared the Obama administration in a scandal it wants nothing to do with.

　　The official, Wang Lijun, sought asylum, fearing for his life even as Chinese security forces quickly surrounded the building and asked the American diplomats inside to turn him over.

　　Instead, after a frantic debate that reached the White House, Mr. Wang stayed until he could arrange for an official from a Beijing ministry to come 36 hours later and escort him past the local security cordon. The authorities from Beijing took him into custody, and he is now under investigation for divulging internal Chinese affairs to the Americans. If charged with and convicted of treason, he could face a death sentence.

　　The information Mr. Wang possessed involved Bo Xilai, who was the Communist Party chief in Chongqing until last month and Mr. Wang』s onetime patron before a falling-out led Mr. Wang to seek refuge in the consulate, according to administration officials, Congressional aides, diplomats and others briefed on what had happened.

　　According to the officials』 version, the American diplomats who oversaw his brief, bizarre stay pre-empted any formal application for asylum because of the difficulties of spiriting him out of the country and questions about his eligibility. Instead, they said, the State Department shielded him from almost certain arrest by police officers loyal to Mr. Bo and ensured he could make his accusations in Beijing.

　　Those charges brought down Mr. Bo and his wife, Gu Kailai, who is now under investigation in the murder of a British businessman, Neil Heywood, and involved the United States and Britain in the biggest scandal facing China』s leadership in a generation.

　　「He was not tossed out,」 a senior administration official said, referring to Mr. Wang.

　　Some Republicans in Congress question, however, whether the Obama administration mishandled Mr. Wang』s case and left him to the mercy of the Chinese authorities when he had sought to pass along explosive information that affected a power struggle at the top of the Chinese Communist Party.

　　Mr. Wang』s arrival at the consulate could not have come at a more sensitive moment for the administration: just a week before China』s likely future leader, Xi Jinping, was scheduled to visit Washington at the invitation of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Granting asylum to Mr. Wang could have soured or scuttled Mr. Xi』s trip.

　　Even now, the episode — which one Congressional official described as 「a 『Bourne Supremacy』 plot」 — risks straining relations as the White House hopes to manage China』s rise and enlist its support on issues like the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran and the government crackdown in Syria.

　　As a result, the American role has been shrouded in silence. Officials at the embassy in Beijing, the State Department and the White House have declined to comment publicly on Mr. Wang』s contacts with American diplomats or the implications of his whistle-blowing on China』s suddenly turbulent internal politics.

　　「It would be incredibly foolish for the U.S. to play any public cards in this very messy Chinese family feud,」 said Orville Schell, the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society. 「The U.S. and China urgently need to get along, and if there is one thing the Chinese are neuralgic about, it is when their private affairs get aired before foreigners in an embarrassing way.」

　　The chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in February demanding the release of all cables, e-mails and memos related to the case. The circumstances, she wrote, raised question about 「what steps were taken to secure U.S. national interests and Mr. Wang』s personal safety.」 The State Department has not yet complied.

　　According to the State Department, the United States cannot simply grant asylum to anyone who walks into a diplomatic compound, given the legal and logistical complications of spiriting someone out of a sovereign nation. Asylum seekers — who typically face persecution for political or religious beliefs — usually apply outside their own nation, whether in the United States or a third country.

　　There are exceptions, but they are rare.

　　In June 1989, the Chinese dissident Fang Lizhi walked into the American Embassy in Beijing a day after security forces attacked protesters in Tiananmen Square. The embassy at first resisted, but the administration of President George Bush offered him sanctuary, provoking a standoff that lasted a year until the Chinese allowed him to leave, ostensibly for medical treatment. (Mr. Fang died in Arizona on April 6; he was 76.)

　　This case, however, differs significantly. Mr. Wang, a vice mayor in Chongqing who had overseen the police before a falling-out with Mr. Bo, is no political dissident. During his years as one of Mr. Bo』s top aides, he had a reputation in Chongqing for ruthless and arbitrary enforcement of the law.

　　That made a decision on asylum all but impossible, the diplomats felt, according to one official briefed on the case, who like others would speak only on condition of anonymity. He and others said the State Department, after informing senior White House officials about Mr. Wang, had avoided that sticky question from that start by facilitating Mr. Wang』s transfer to Beijing. The decision to proceed that way was made by the State Department, those who were briefed said, not the White House officials, whom they declined to identify.

　　「Granting asylum to a major human-rights icon in China, during the midst of the Tiananmen Square uprising, is a special case,」 said Jeffrey A. Bader, a former China policy adviser to President Obama. 「It should not be seen as a precedent, especially in the case of a former provincial police commissioner, with hundreds of Chinese security forces assembled outside the consulate.」

　　The consulate in Chengdu, with roughly 30 American officials, oversees visas and commercial affairs for southwestern China. The consul general, Peter Haymond, was not in Chengdu at the time, officials said, leaving Mr. Wang』s case to subordinates. They alerted the embassy in Beijing, which flagged Washington.

　　Mr. Wang arrived with documents detailing accusations against Mr. Bo and Ms. Gu, but he did not hand them over, the American officials said. The contents are not known, though one official described them as technical descriptions of police investigations in Chongqing. Mr. Wang was allowed to make phone calls to officials in Beijing he hoped would help him. In the meantime, he regaled startled diplomats with a rambling but ultimately revealing discourse on the murky intersection of power, politics and corruption in China.

　　「Not everything was coherent, as you would expect,」 a Congressional official said, 「but he did provide some good insights.」 As Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a former China adviser in the Clinton administration, put it: 「Two things were clear the moment he walked in: this was a very big deal, and this was a very unsavory character. This is not the Dalai Lama who walked in the door.」

　　Sharon LaFraniere contributed reporting from Beijing.

　　This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

　　Correction: April 17, 2012

　　A previous version of this article stated that Gu Kailai was charged with the murder of Neil Heywood. Ms. Gu is under investigation for the murder, and has not yet been charged. [ 俺想說幾句 ] [ 查看網友評論( 45 ) ]