Update on BO Xilai (from yesterday)

choi

I finished the posting yesterday, but did not publish it until now.

My comment: There is no need to read (4) or (5). What is important in (2) and (3) is shown in quotation; whether you want to sign in and read either is up to you. Neither is extraordinary, but both have merits.

(1) Stan Grant, 'War of gods' captivates China. CNN, Mar 19, 2012.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/1 ... ina-grant-bo-xilai/

(2) Editorial: Bo Xilai's Downfall and China's Future; Finding the right leaders requires more accountability. Financial Times (FT), Mar 19, 2012, at page 8.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c268c1 ... 8-00144feab49a.html

Excerpt in the window of print: China's economic and political contradictions are not sustainable in the long term

Quote:

"That Mr Bo’s replacement comes from the faction controlled by Jiang Zemin, the former president, shows instead that the battle between elite conservatives allied with Mr Jiang and more liberal members of the Communist party associated with Mr Hu and Mr Wen is still raging.

"The Communist party fears, perhaps with reason, that if it starts such a process it can only lead to its own demise. Yet the alternative script will, eventually, end with the same outcome.

(3) Minxin Pei, The Ghost of Mao Haunts China's Succession Plans. FT, Mar 19, 2012, at page 9 (op-ed).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b56c60 ... 9-00144feab49a.html

Excerpt in the window of print: Mr Bo's fall has revealed the deep rift in China's top leadership over the distribution of power and direction of the party

Quote:

"By openly challenging the party’s long-established rules on personnel promotion, Mr Bo showed that he – and many others in the party’s hierarchy – will no longer abide by such rules, which they view as biased in favour of risk-averse and colourless bureaucrats. For the moment, the party establishment has won a decisive battle against such insurgents. But the existing system of distributing power among rival factions through an opaque arrangement is sure to antagonise ambitious and risk-taking players such as Mr Bo in the future when they feel they are short-changed by the system.

"Chinese leaders have long thought they had banished the ghost of Mao, the only communist leader capable of rallying the masses to terrorise the party. Mr Bo’s remarkably effective campaign to tap into popular resentment at inequality and corruption suggests that, as long as the party’s policies perpetuate crony capitalism, future political entrepreneurs in his mode will come along and exploit widespread social discontent to further their personal ambitions. If anything, the most important lesson to be learnt by the party is not how to prevent the rise of another Mao-like figure, but that it must address the underlying socioeconomic conditions that brew leftist-populist radicalism.

(4) Jamil Anderlini, Bo's Downfall Triggers Mixed Responnse in China. FT, Mar 17, 2012.

Quote:

(a) "Perhaps it was no coincidence that the downfall of Bo Xilai, China’s most charismatic and polarising Communist official, came on the Ides of March.

"After all, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier who publicly admonished Mr Bo a day earlier on March 14, is an avid fan of Shakespeare – and Chinese political manoeuvres are always heavy on symbolism.

(b) "The news of his political demise was met by an outpouring of emotion from many people on the internet who expressed support for his social policies and his crackdown on crime.

“'Good uncle Bo Xilai, the people will always remember you and can distinguish between good and evil, beauty and ugliness,' said one internet user with the name 'Ordinary person, new student.'

"Another user called 'Flying ocean' said: 'As a Dalian native, from high school through university I was always proud, but after I graduated every time I went back there I noticed a huge difference . . . With its frequent fire disasters, dirty streets and rookie drivers, what has Dalian come to? Compared to Bo Xilai all the [government officials] who came after him have been far worse.'

Note: Ides of March
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March
(In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators)


(5) Editorial: A Purge in China. Washington Post, Mar 16, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/op ... QAND4FHS_story.html
("But the pro-statist faction associated with the Chongqing leader hardly seems to have been vanquished. His successor, Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, is an alumnus of Kim Il Sung University who is believed to hold similar views. Quite possibly the power struggle that surfaced in Chongqing may just be getting underway: Seven of those nine standing committee seats are up for grabs. Mr Wen’s gloss notwithstanding, outside observers, like the Chinese people, are unlikely to learn what is happening, or what is at stake, until it is over")

Note: The quotation is copied from the last paragraph.