China says Interpol notice issued for billionaire Guo Wengui
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China's foreign ministry said Wednesday that Interpol has issued a "red notice" seeking the arrest of Guo Wengui, a Chinese billionaire who has threatened to expose corruption at the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party at a critical juncture.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang gave no details about Guo's alleged crimes, but The South China Morning Post reported that he is suspected of bribing a former top official in China's intelligence service.
The Interpol notice has raised the stakes in a tense standoff between Chinese authorities and Guo, a real estate tycoon who disappeared from public view in 2014 but resurfaced in recent months, dramatically claiming in interviews with overseas Chinese media and a stream of Twitter posts that he held damning information about party elites.
Guo's case has been closely followed by Chinese political watchers, who say that his leaks could potentially rock the political jockeying between internal factions that is currently taking place ahead of the 19th Party Congress expected this fall, when a new generation of party leaders will be chosen.
A "red notice" for Guo could also revive concerns over the election of a top Chinese police official as Interpol's president in November. He is believed to be in the US or Britain, two countries that do not have extradition treaties with China.
Guo is suspected of giving $8.8 million in bribes to Ma Jian, a former deputy head of China's intelligence service who was charged with corruption in February, The South China Morning Post reported, citing anonymous sources briefed on the Interpol notice.
