August 28, 2012
Translated by Zhang Dian

Today's Oriental Morning Post (东方早报) includes a report that looks into whether rumors that Wang Guoqiang (王国强), the former party secretary of Fengcheng (凤城) a county-level city in Liaoning Province, fled to the U.S. with 200 million yuan earlier this year.

The Propaganda Department of the Dandong Municipal Party Committee (丹东市委宣传部) told a reporter from the Oriental Morning Post (东方早报) that Wang may have gone abroad without permission around the end of April. The official also said that Wang had already been moved to another position as head of a construction department in Dandong in March.

However, the official was unable to reveal more details about Wang's case as Wang was appointed by the provincial government and thus any investigation into his affairs would be conducted by provincial authorities.

Reporters from the Oriental Morning Post searched through public reports about Wang's activities and discovered that the last mention of him was in a report about a speech he had given at a conference on March 22.

Since that date, there have been no reports of Wang appearing in public.

The rumors circulating online suggest that Wang may have chosen to flee the country after authorities began to investigate his connections to Haide Heating Company (海德热电有限公司).

Haide has a poor reputation in Fengcheng after residents were forced to endure cold temperatures over the Spring Festival period due to problems with the heating system.

There was no official confirmation of these allegations.

Ma Yanchun (马延春), was appointed the new Party Secretary of Fengcheng by the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee (辽宁省委) on Aug 14.

Links and Sources
Oriental Morning Post: 辽宁凤城市委书记疑涉供暖腐败卷款2亿跑路