Brother of Sacked Chinese Official, Pursued by Authorities, Said to Be in US

The brother of a purged Party official is said to be in hiding in the United States, while regime officials do their best to track him down.

Ling Jihua at a meeting of the National Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing on March 8, 2013. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

When Communist Party antigraft investigators decided to purge the high-ranking official Ling Jihua, key aide to the former regime leader and later head of the shadowy United Front Department, they forgot one thing: He’s got a brother in the United States.

Ling Wancheng, the brother, could have all manner of secrets about corruption and politicking at the highest levels of the Party, according to Chen Xiaoping, a veteran analyst of Chinese politics and an editor with the magazine Mingjing Monthly.

As long as Ling Wancheng is in the United States, the case against his brother will be at stalemate.

— Chen Xiaoping, political writer