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Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai expelled from Communist party
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- Created on Friday, 28 September 2012 00:00
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28 September 2012
Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai expelled from Communist party
Bo faces multiple criminal charges and is accused of bearing 'major responsibility' in relation to murder of Neil Heywood
Tania Branigan in Beijing
The disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist party and faces multiple criminal charges, including abusing power and taking massive bribes.
He is also accused of bearing "major responsibility" in relation to his wife's murder of a British businessman and maintaining improper sexual relationships with several women.The decision by the 25-member Politburo, to which Bo once belonged, means he is all but certain to face the biggest political court case since the show trial of the Gang of Four in 1981, following the cultural revolution.
The scandal surrounding his family, which led to his wife Gu Kailai's conviction last month for the murder of Neil Heywood, has overshadowed this year's transition of power to a new generation of leaders – now set for early November.
The 18th party congress will start on 8 November, the state news agency Xinhua said in a separate dispatch; a few weeks later than had been anticipated. That could allow sufficient time for Bo, the former party secretary of Chongqing, to be charged and tried before the meeting opens. The Xinhua report gave no indication of where or when he would stand trial.
The 63-year-old was once tipped for higher office in this autumn's handover. Many in China are privately sceptical about the true causes of his fall, suggesting corruption and power abuses alone are not sufficient to unseat senior leaders. He is known to have alienated many in the party with his obvious ambition.
Chongqing's former police chief, Wang Lijun, precipitated his former patron's fall by fleeing to a US consulate after telling Bo he believed Gu had killed Heywood, and repeating his claims to diplomats.
Wang was convicted of defection, helping to cover up Heywood's murder and other crimes earlier this month. Xinhua said Bo "bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case of Bogu Kailai", but did not specify how.
The allegation may relate to a claim aired in Wang's trial, that Bo slapped Wang and turned on him after learning of his suspicions. Xinhua added: "He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family.
"His position was also abused by his wife, Bogu Kailai, to seek profits for others and his family thereby accepted a huge amount of money and property from others.
"Bo had affairs and maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women."It said he had made wrong choices in promoting people "leading to serious consequences" and added that the party investigation "found clues to his suspected involvement in other crimes". The news agency said Bo had seriously violated party discipline as mayor of Dalian, a position he held more than a decade ago, as well as in his roles as minister of commerce and then party secretary of Chongqing.
His actions had "badly undermined the reputation of the party and the country, created very negative impact at home and abroad and significantly damaged the cause of the party and people", it added.
The twin announcements were made on Friday evening, while millions of Chinese citizens were getting away for the start of the week-long October holiday.
The long silence over Bo's case – there had been no word on him since officials announced in spring he was facing an internal party investigation – allied with the long wait for the announcement of the congress and the mysterious absence of heir apparent Xi Jinping earlier this month had led to extensive speculation about disagreements at the top of the party.
Steve Tsang, an expert on Chinese politics at Nottingham University, said: "The fact they can agree on a solution over Bo Xilai suggests they have come to some sort of general agreement … It actually looks better than a few weeks or months ago in the sense that the leadership being able to reach some kind of agreement on the details of the succession."
Analysts initially believed that leaders would be reluctant to try Bo because of his connections as the "princeling" son of a revered revolutionary leader, Bo Yibo, his enduring popularity in some quarters of society, particularly among neo-Maoists and in his former strongholds of Dalian and Chongqing, and because it would raise so many questions about the behaviour of China leaders in general.
Some also suggested that Bo might attempt to use a trial to fight back. That could still be the case, said Tsang, suggesting authorities might hold the hearings in private if they worried about his reaction.
"The difference with Wang Lijun and Gu Kailai is that there was no point for them to use the trial as political theatre which could only bring a harsher sentence," said Tsang. "The chances of [Bo] having a comeback are practically zero and he's not going to get a bullet through the head. How much difference can it make whether he gets 15 years or zero? He might well decide he didn't want to play ball."
The Gang of Four tried in 1981 consisted of Mao Zedong's last wife, Jiang Qing, and her associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen.
The Guardian UK
