The country's two main trade unions strike against buget cuts A key deputy to Bo Xilai, the Chongqing Communist party secretary who has been tipped for a top position in China's upcoming political transition, has been put on leave, the Chongqing government said Wednesday, prompting speculation of internal dissent among the top ranks of the southwestern city's leadership. Chongqing vice mayor and former police chief Wang Lijun, 52, is undergoing "vacation-style treatment" due to his heavy workload and stress, the city government announced in a one-line statement on its official microblog. That announcement late Wednesday morning came hours after Chinese police surrounded the U.S. consulate in Chengdu, a city about 200 miles from Chongqing, which touched off widespread rumors on Chinese microblogs that Wang had sought asylum. U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Buangan told Reuters he was "not in a position to comment regarding reported requests for asylum." He added that "there was no threat to the (Chengdu) consulate yesterday, and the U.S. government did not request increased security around the compound," Reuters reported.