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EDITORIAL: Bo Xilai
incident casts a shadow
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平), Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤)
likely successor, is now on a visit to the US. Widely regarded as the next
Chinese president and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),
this visit will be scrutinized by the US, Taiwan and the international
community.
US visits by Chinese leaders or leaders-in-waiting are major events. When former
Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) visited the US in 1997, China was on the
cusp of its rise, just starting to open up. By the time Hu visited in 2002, in
the capacity of vice president and prospective successor to the presidency,
China was already a regional power. Things have moved apace and with this latest
visit, China is already an international power, threatening to compete in the
same league with the US in terms of military presence, economics and foreign
relations.
However, on the eve of Xi’s visit, a piece of news broke, the aftershocks of
which are being felt both in China and abroad. The news was that Wang Lijun
(王立軍), Chongqing’s vice mayor and right-hand man of Chongqing CCP Secretary Bo
Xilai (薄熙來), presented himself at the US consulate in Chengdu, apparently
seeking political asylum.
Bo is part of the political elite in China, one of the second generation of
party big beasts known as the “princelings” (太子黨). He is known in Chongqing for
cleaning up the city, promoting the communist cause — reviving the singing of
Mao Zedong (毛澤東)-era songs — and fighting corruption. Wang has been a major
figure in the latter effort, serving as chief of police. In a single day he
oversaw the sacking on the spot of 2,000 to 3,000 police officers. The former
police chief, Wen Qiang (文強), was found guilty of a litany of corruption
offenses and promptly executed. This operation made Bo a hero in Chongqing. It
also secured him a place on the list for candidates to join the CCP Standing
Committee later this year at the party’s 18th National Congress.
Wang presented himself at the US consulate as he did not want to go the same way
as Wen. He remained there for a day, while Washington and Beijing discussed how
best to contain the fallout in the interests of both countries, before being
taken to Beijing for what was euphemistically called “a rest.”
Speculation about the matter is rife online. Some have suggested this was the
result of a struggle between Bo and Guangdong CCP Secretary Wang Yang (汪洋) for a
place on the Standing Committee. Others believe Hu is behind all this, to rein
in Bo’s blatant ambition and to clear away any obstacles to the orderly
succession of power.
The transfer of power in China proceeds according to a set of inscrutable
principles and when a political matter gets in the way it is of major
consequence. It happened with Mao and the Lin Biao (林彪) incident of Sept 13,
1976; it happened with Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) in the 1986 Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦)
incident; in 1989, when Zhao Ziyang (趙紫陽) was removed from office for opposing
the use of force against students in Tiananmen Square; when Chen Xitong (陳希同)
was removed from office during Jiang’s time; and in the dismissal of Chen
Liangyu (陳良宇) under Hu.
Judging by the ferocity of power struggles in Beijing, China is evidently still
a totalitarian dictatorship — a long, long way from being a civilized country
that respects human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Whatever the driving force behind the Bo Xilai incident, it has already cast a
shadow over Xi’s anticipated succession.
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