Photo/Illutration The prime minister's office in Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Chinese people know when they smell a rotten stench coming from the seat of power.

Rumors surrounded the wife of a high-ranking official. He had a promising future; she was involved in a crime of some kind.

But nobody imagined it would turn out to be the mega-scandal that it was, one that reached the heart of the Chinese government.

In 2012, the political fortunes of Politburo bigwig Bo Xilai came to an abrupt end.

A third player was Wang Lijun, a public security bureau chief and Bo's subordinate.

Wang was investigating the suspicious death of a British businessman. He informed Bo of his wife's involvement in the death--and promised to cover it up.

"You can leave this to me," Wang told Bo, according to local media reports of the time.

But Bo did not trust his police chief.

Politics in China are ruthless. Wang was relieved of his duties and, fearing for his life, sought asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu.

Then a whole slew of scandals came to light.

I believe something like that would never happen in Japan.

Still, I am troubled by a report in the weekly Shukan Bunshun magazine concerning Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's deputy chief Cabinet secretary.

The official’s wife voluntarily submitted to questioning by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department about the death of her former husband in 2006, according to Shukan Bunshun.

Meanwhile, the official is suspected of applying pressure on the police, the magazine reported. He has dismissed the allegation as "completely groundless."

The rights of his wife, a private citizen, should certainly be protected. Still, the government's handling of this case is cursory at best.

And I find it hard to understand why the official has not come forward to state his case in public, for example, by holding a news conference.

Where does the truth lie? It's only natural that suspicions should smolder on.

Shukan Bunshun said it reported the story because it raises important questions: Did the seat of power exert pressure? This has directly to do with the fundamental state of the rule of law in Japan.

People in positions of power should try harder to be open with the public.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 2

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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