China’s leadership succession might not be an exercise in democracy, but the system has demonstrated it can still be ruthless, with the firing of Bo Xilai as Communist Party chief of Chongqing in southwest China.
“Zhang Dejiang has been appointed Party chief of Chongqing, replacing Bo Xilai, according to a decision of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee announced Thursday,” the official Xinhua News Agency wrote in a brief note on its website.
This is remarkable news. Bo is about as close to a political rock star as China gets, and was seen as doing something quite unusual in China – effectively openly running for office (in this case a place on the Standing Committee of the Politburo). However, there has been much speculation about Bo’s prospects of reaching China’s top political body since Vice Mayor Wang Lijun, his longtime police chief and partner in Bo’s high-profile and populist campaign against corruption, went to ground last month “in the U.S. consulate in nearby Chengdu until he was coaxed out and placed under investigation.”
“Wang’s downfall undermines one of the core elements of Bo’s political narrative, the crackdown on organized crime that was Bo’s first signature initiative in Chongqing and which has won him widespread popularity in the city,” The Diplomat’s David Cohen wrote as the scandal unfolded last month. “Bo brought Wang with him from China’s northeast in order to head the campaign, and Wang also reportedly coordinated Bo’s public relations effort to commemorate the campaign with a five-volume history, a big budget film and a TV series. That said, Wang is a big personality – a minor celebrity in his own right – and he’s been rumored to be unhappy about being overshadowed by his boss, so there’s a chance the incident is simply a remarkably nasty falling out.”
According to Reuters: “Three sources with direct ties to Chongqing government officials said Bo's removal was announced at a meeting in the city. They all spoke on condition of anonymity to protect themselves and their sources.
“‘The fact that the Xinhua announcement did not stress that Bo will be placed in another post means that he's probably going to be put under investigation, and there won’t be any conclusion on his future until the end of that investigation,’ said one of the sources, a journalist with wide-ranging contacts among central officials.”
It’s unclear if Bo will lose his seat on the Politburo, as the Politburo itself will have to make that decision. In the meantime, Cohen will have more on what this could all mean tomorrow, and how serious the tensions at the top of the Communist Party might be.
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John Chan
The programs ran by Bo are admirable and should be promtoed regardless the fortune of Bo. Openly running for office, campaign against corruption, rooting out organized crimes and gangsters, and promoting equality.
Shanghaier
China has it’s own problems, no difference from the west and it’s democrazies.
However, the secrecy is going to be a problem at some point. Also, Bo is going to fight back for sure.
Leonard R.
His son drives a Red Ferrari dated Jon Huntsman’s daughter and attends Harvard.
Yet Bo is quoted as saying last week,
“If only a few people are rich, then we are capitalists, we’ve failed”.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/03/chinese-power-politics
–
It’s called ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” Bo. Get with the program.
Actually, the PRC could do worse than Bo Xilai. And it probably will.
John Chan
@Leonard R,
What is wrong with “If only a few people are rich, then we are capitalists, we’ve failed”? Are you favour 99% living on food stamp and 1% has more money they know what to do with it while they continue to deprive the 99% a respectable life in order to bloat their bank accounts?
Liberty, democracy and human rights cannot thrive without equality, but tyranny can thrive in inequality.
williams
Now is the bad news for China:” Chinese Economy Already in ‘Hard Landing,’ JPMorgan’s Mowat Says.
“If you look at the Chinese data, you should stop debating about a hard landing,” Mowat, who is based in Hong Kong, said at a conference in Singapore yesterday. “China is in a hard landing. Car sales are down, cement production is down, steel production is down, construction stocks are down. It’s not a debate anymore, it’s a fact.” His team was a runner-up for best Asian equity strategists in a 2011 Institutional Investor magazine poll. (By Weiyi Lim – Mar 15, 2012-Bloomberg)
John Chan
@Williams,
OK, you got your wish, Chinese economy is hard landing, what do you expect you can get out of it? If you expect USA and rest of world will benefit from it, you are serious mistaken. Here are some facts:
1. Commodity demand will drop, it means Australia, and SEA economies will drop too.
2. China will buy less US and EU bonds, then bonds yield is going to rise, it will depress US and EU economic recovery. More jobs either will loss or not created.
3. China is going the grab export markets more aggressively, it will be tougher on manufacturers in other nations, particular on those lowend manufacturing nations.
Nobody is hoping China’s economy going down, except people like you that would rather to cut off the nose to spite the face.
williams
China needs real economic & political reforms! Mercantilism, state capitalism, one-party authoritarianism & nationalist arrogant aggressiveness are not any bit of help for China itself and for the world ! Peace, prosperity not war or destruction are the only things the peaceful international community has been longing for!Just think about it!
John Chan
@Williams,
China is a peaceful nation, but American and its lackeys in Asia are the bellicose ones encircling China with 6 carrier battle groups, hundreds hi-tech war planes and other lethal weapons. It seems you are confused, American and its lackey are the ones you need to tell to turn down their hysteria war mongering chants.
China will carry out its economic & political reforms at its own pace and for its own needs in order to make China more competitive in the world, as well as to bring the world to a win-win peace and prosper environment. The existing world order led by the predatory imperialists is corrupted and unfair.
Fu Ma-chu
If experience and background is worth anything, it is clear the unrestrained ambitions of political animal Wang Lijun was essentially to do a “Brutus” upon Bo Xilai. In politics, never trust anyone. I hope Bo Xilai gets exonerated by the Party and in public.
The worse crime in the world is to be betrayed by your son, wife or the person you trusted most. Wang Lijun is the villian-in-the-piece. He knew perfectly well his visit and stay at the American Consulate – America being China’ venal enemy – would blacken his benefactor’s name terribly. He is the traitor type, and in my books, should be shot with no tears shed.
Reason
The big question now is how much fall-out is gonna land on Xi Jinping’s lap now that Bo has been usurped – Xi was an open proponent of the Chongqing model and ally of Bo.
This is truly and Grand Heavy Weight Title slug-fest between the Communist Youth league and the Princelings
Reason
Ding – Ding
Round Two
The CYL take the first round