Sacking of ‘princeling’ a warning to successors
CHINA: One of China’s most charismatic and divisive politicians has been sacked as chief of its biggest municipality in a saga that has shaken the edifice of Communist Party unity as it prepares to anoint a new generation of leaders.
Yesterday’s dismissal of Bo Xilai as Party Secretary of Chongqing is the most destructive twist yet in a scandal involving the attempted defection of a police chief and rumours of corruption and torture during Mr Bo’s career-defining crackdown on the mafia.
Analysts say that the dismissal sends two unequivocal messages from the Premier, Wen Jiabao, and President Hu Jintao: disapproval over the way Bo had overtly campaigned for promotion and a warning to their successors against veering too far to the Left.
Bo’s replacement in Chongqing by Zhang Dejiang, a vice-premier, was announced less than a day after the closing ceremony of China’s National People’s Congress, which exposed the party’s deep ideological rifts.
Bo, 62, was harried by questions over the extraordinary events in Chongqing at the annual meeting of the rubber-stamp parliament. While he rallied convincingly under fire and remains well supported in his city, the unresolved scandal involving his closest ally, Wang Lijun, loomed dangerously.
‘‘There are many people who have poured filth on Chongqing, including pouring filth on me and my family, even talking about my son studying abroad and driving a red Ferrari – utter nonsense – and I feel outraged. Utter nonsense,’’ he said in an attempt to regain control of his destiny.
The abrupt removal of one of China’s most prominent ‘‘princelings’’ – the son of the revolutionary leader Bo Yibo – was announced within 24 hours of a broadside from Wen. In his final press conference after nearly a decade in power, Wen broke a taboo of party rhetoric and invoked the spectre of the Cultural Revolution as a warning to those who would resist reform and remain anchored in the past.
During his tenure, Bo oversaw a revival in ‘‘red culture’’, with mass performances of revolutionary songs. In a move whose background is still not fully understood, Wang presented himself last month at the United States consulate in the city of Chengdu, spent 24 hours there and is thought to have asked for asylum. He was later taken to Beijing, where he remains under investigation.
Despite the scandal, few expected that the axe would fall on Bo so soon. Analysts say that the very public shattering of Bo’s ambitions is the clearest signal yet of disorder in the leadership handover process.
The party has until its Congress in late October to work out who will be chosen for the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee at the summit of China’s single-party political system. With Bo apparently out of the running, analysts say that the way has probably been cleared for Wang Yang – the party secretary of Guangdong Province whose ‘‘small government, big society’’ mantra has been far more closely attuned to the outlook of party liberals such as Wen.
Bo is thought to have placed himself in opposition to Wen’s faction with his ‘‘Smash Black’’ campaign tackling organised crime. The mastermind of that effort was his right-hand man, the disgraced police chief, and dozens of senior officials were arrested.