Chinese blogosphere rushes to interpret ‘okay’ hand signal during court appearance

WHAT is in a hand gesture? For avid Chinese viewers watching a man who was once one of the country’s most senior leaders hauled before a court to face corruption charges, quite a lot, it seems.

In the first photographs of Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party chief in Chongqing, at his trial yesterday, he appeared to be giving an “okay” gesture with his left hand, which created a major buzz on the Chinese blogosphere.

It also triggered all sorts of theories about what the gesture could mean. In the image taken at the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court, Mr Bo has his hands crossed in front of him but with the three fingers on his left hand pointing down towards the desk, crafting what looked like an “okay” sign.

The picture circulated quickly through retweets and comments on Sina Weibo, the country’s most popular microblogging service.

Microbloggers were busy figur- ing out what unspoken message Mr Bo was conveying by the gesture and to whom. “Three years, give him three years, he will be a hero again,” wrote one admiring Weibo user, referring to a possible sentence.

“There is still 3-billion yuan that he hasn’t confessed to,” wrote another user, less devoted to the man who was once touted as a foremost mem- ber of the Chinese politburo.

Some even jokingly commented that Mr Bo was seeking help by the gesture. According to one microblogger, the defendant was pleading for mercy from Jiang Zemin, the former president who still wields influence, because the gesture was a reference to “uphold the Three Represents”, a sociopo- litical ideology advanced by Mr Jiang in 2000.

It could just as easily have been a sign to his family, at least those not in detention, that he is literally okay, having not been seen in public for 18 months. Whatever it means, Mr Bo’s gesture created a stir yesterday.

It is unlikely to be the only one in this trial.