Qigong master switches stories

A self-proclaimed qigong master who fled the Chinese mainland to avoid possible indictment for fraud and the illegal practice of medicine has said he supports Communist Party of China and loves his country after portraying himself as "a victim of a political vendetta" to the New York Times.

Wang Lin, who claimed he could conjure snakes out of an empty basin, posted a comment on his personal Tencent Weibo on Wednesday which said he supported the Communist Party of China as well as loving his country and people, adding that the previous dispute he had with some other people was just an economic issue and he would reserve the right to sue those who slandered him.

The sudden comment was made after Wang accepted a New York Times interview on Tuesday in Hong Kong. In the interview, Wang said he was "the innocent victim of a political vendetta that has rippled outward from a business dispute in his hometown in Jiangxi Province."

The blatant inconsistency shocked many observers, who called his statement on Tencent Weibo opportunistic.

"The drastically different things he said to the foreign media and on Weibo shows that he is a canny man with no integrity and that he only seeks his own best interests," Gu Jun, a professor in the sociology department at Shanghai University, told the Global Times.

For many years, Wang has claimed to have supernatural powers. He said his spirit could catch snakes thousands of miles away in a blink of an eye and that his power had healed more than 50,000 patients.

After Beijing News ran an exposéon his schemes, he quickly fled the Chinese mainland, fearing he could be indicted for participation in loan sharking and his role as a middleman between rich business people who craved "a little help" and powerful yet corrupted government officials.

"If I go back, I'll certainly be arrested. I had made my money honestly, and never took money from officials or from ill people who sought for help," Wang told the New York Times.

Wang even likened himself to Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who disclosed information on the US intelligence agencies spying scandal.

"Wang Lin is just another charlatan, a common part of Chinese history and traditional culture," Gu said.

Wang's family refused an interview request from the Global Times on Thursday.

Liu Xiangdong, a senior lecturer at the Shanghai Municipal Party School, told the Global Times that the phenomenon of some officials who became fans of Wang pose serious questions to the authorities.

"We can't ignore the possibility that they favored Wang to serve their own interests," Liu said.