The biggest political crisis to hit China in over two decades appears to have moved closer to resolution. The former high-flying Party Secretary of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, once a contender for a top post in China’s leadership, has been expelled from the party and his case will be transferred to judicial authorities, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported September 28. In a separate report, Beijing also announced that its much-anticipated Communist Party Congress is to open October 8.
“Investigations found that Bo seriously violated the Party disciplines,” in his various government roles, including when he was mayor of the northeastern city of Dalian, ran the rustbelt province of Liaoning, served as commerce minister, and most recently, held the post of party chief of Chongqing. “Bo abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident,” where Bo’s former police chief sought asylum in a U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan, as well as in the murder of an Englishman late last year, by his wife Gu Kailai.
“He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family,” Xinhua continued, adding that Bo also had “improper sexual relationships with a number of women.”
“Bo’s behaviors have brought serious consequences, 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,” Xinhua concluded. The announcements came late on Friday, even as Chinese and foreign businesses, along with government offices, were shutting for a one-week-plus long national holiday.
The sensational and salacious charges against Bo, the son of one of China’s revered revolutionary leaders, along with the long-awaited announcement of the timing for the opening of Party Congress, begin to clear up the cloud of uncertainty that had fallen over Beijing as it prepared for a once-in-a-decade leadership shift. It also suggests that China’s outgoing top leadership, buffeted for months by the scandal’s fallout, seem to have finally reached agreement on the crucial question of who will replace them, and take over the helm of what is now the world’s second-largest economy.
Those now almost certain to rise to China’s elite Politburo Standing Committee include 59-year-old Xi Jinping, China’s presumptive next party secretary and president, as well as 57-year-old Li Keqiang, who will likely become premier. They will be the only two members of the now nine-member Standing Committee to remain in power. 61-year-old Li Yuanchao is expected to win the vice presidency, while 64-year-old Wang Qishan will likely get the executive vice premier position. All four are considered to be likely proponents of further economic and possibly incremental political reform.
The remaining three to five positions to be filled, depending on whether the committee is cut to seven members from the nine now serving, are still uncertain, however. Also unclear: what policies might be emphasized at the party congress—previous congresses have pushed breakthrough policies, such as the decision to allow private entrepreneurs in the party, and even have amended China’s constitution.
The Xinhua report on the congress revealed little. It said that the party’s work over the last five years will be reviewed, while “the congress will make strategic plans for the overall advancement of China’s reform and opening up and socialist modernization drive, as well as for the overall advancement of Party building in the new era.”
“The congress will further mobilize the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups to march unswervingly along the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue to advance scientific development and promote social harmony, and continue to improve people’s livelihood and well-being, and strive for the building of a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way,” it continued.
