China's Local Leaders Hold Absolute Power

In a telephone interview, Zhang denied any improprieties and defended the colossal commercial center as Xifeng's "only chance for development."

The project was seen as less of an opportunity by hundreds of Xifeng families whose land was confiscated to make room for construction. Many complained that the compensation they received was far below market value. Others charged that Zhang abused China's eminent domain regulations to favor Liu's company.

A delegation tried to go to Beijing to lodge a complaint with the citizen petition bureau. But Xifeng policemen, commanded by Zhang's inseparable companion, Wang Weidong of the Public Security Bureau, blocked the roads and checked all cars leaving town, upset townspeople said.

One property owner in particular, Zhao Junping, 40, was outraged, refusing to accept Zhang's seizure of her family-run gasoline station. She fought the confiscation with legal objections and lost, then in spite sent friends a text message with a little poem accusing Zhang of "corruption and crimes." Her suggestion was that Zhang was getting illicit money from Liu as part of the land confiscations -- an allegation Zhang has denied.

Zhao was soon jailed on charges of libel, which can be a criminal offense under Chinese law. Subsequently, she was also accused of tax fraud. After a trial at which both charges were heard simultaneously, she was convicted and sentenced Dec. 28 to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Zhao's fate was the subject of an article by Zhu Wenna on Jan. 1 in Faren Magazine, which is published by the official Legal Daily in Beijing. Seven days later, Xifeng policemen showed up at Faren's Beijing offices to arrest Zhu, leading to widespread outrage in the capital and, eventually, to the investigating team dispatched to Xifeng by party headquarters.

Local residents said they assume investigators from the party's Discipline Inspection Commission are still looking into Zhang's finances and his record here with an eye to possible prosecution. But, in keeping with the party's practice of secrecy, there has been no announcement. Zhang declined to comment but said he has received no official notification.

A new Xifeng county party secretary, Ye Desong, has arrived, meanwhile, and the Public Security Bureau has a new chief. The county's 400,000 residents are left to trade rumors about Zhang's fate and predictions about what the new party mandarins will be like.

Researcher Liu Songjie contributed to this report.