The death game of China's rich and powerful: a secret report on the Bo Xilai incident

Beast Note: Last night I dug out a copy of "The Death Game of China's Aristocrats" at home, and suddenly thought of Bo Xilai who had been silent for a long time. I remembered that when Liu Xiaobo passed away in July of that year, there was news that Bo Xilai had also died because of He was released on medical parole for liver disease and went to Huludao, Liaoning to recuperate. The red family members are different! The Bo Xilai incident is actually very worthy of further study, and its subsequent impact is still in the process of fermenting. So today I have time to write about Bo Xilai. Googled it a bit and it turned out that many links are dead. Could it be that the Ministry of Truth is revising history again, hoping that everyone will forget their memories?

Let’s sort out Bo Xilai’s life first

Bo Xilai (July 3, 1949 -), a politician of the People's Republic of China and a former deputy state-level leader of the Communist Party of China. A native of Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province, born in Beiping City, the second son of Bo Yibo, the founder of the Communist Party of China. Member of the 16th and 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, member of the Political Bureau of the 17th Central Committee, expelled from the party in September 2012.

Bo Xilai successively served as the mayor of Dalian, secretary of the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, and governor of Liaoning Province. In 2004, he came to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. In 2007, he left Beijing to serve as secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. However, affected by the Wang Lijun incident, on March 15, 2012, Bo Xilai was dismissed from his post as secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. On March 28, he was expelled from the party and public office, and was transferred to the judiciary for his suspected crimes and clues about crimes. On October 26 of the same year, Bo Xilai was dismissed by the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress as a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress. On the same day, the Supreme People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China decided to file an investigation against Bo Xilai and take compulsory measures.

On July 25, 2013, the People's Procuratorate of Jinan City filed a public prosecution against Bo Xilai in the Intermediate People's Court of Jinan City, Shandong Province for alleged bribery, corruption, and abuse of power . At 8:30 on August 22, 2013, the fifth court of the Jinan Intermediate People's Court held a public hearing on the case of Bo Xilai accepting bribes, embezzlement, and abuse of power. On the first day of the trial, Bo Xilai denied the allegations of bribery and embezzlement by the procuratorate . On September 22, 2013, Bo Xilai was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Jinan Intermediate People's Court for accepting bribes, embezzlement, and abuse of power. On October 8, 2013, Chinese official media disclosed that Bo Xilai refused to accept the verdict within the appeal period and lodged an appeal. The case of Bo Xilai officially entered the second instance. On the morning of October 25, 2013, the Higher People's Court of Shandong Province publicly pronounced the second-instance verdict on Bo Xilai's bribery, embezzlement, and abuse of power case, ruling to reject the appeal and uphold the first-instance sentence of life imprisonment. Bo Xilai is currently serving his sentence in Qincheng Prison in Changping, Beijing.

background

Bo Xilai was born in Beiping (later renamed Beijing) in 1949. His father, Bo Yibo, was the first Minister of Finance . In September 1956, he studied in Beijing No. 2 Experimental Primary School. At that time, he was in the same class as Liu Pingping, the daughter of Liu Shaoqi (the second president of the country), and the head teacher was Guan Minqing. He was admitted to Beijing No. school high school. After the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in October 1966, he and his second sister Bo Jieying went to Guangzhou with their parents to seek refuge. In January 1967, his parents were taken back to Beijing by the Red Guards .

From January 1968 to November 1972, he was imprisoned in Beijing Lishuiqiao Beiyuan Juvenile Detention Center, and participated in labor in the "Study Class for Educating Good Children"[8]. In 1972, he became a worker in the hardware and machine repair factory of the Beijing Second Light Industry Bureau. In 1978, he took the college entrance examination and was admitted to Peking University, where he studied world history in the Department of History. He entered the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1979 after the resumption of postgraduate enrollment.

He joined the Communist Party of China in October 1980, and graduated from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1982 with a master's degree. Later, he successively served as a cadre in the Research Office of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China .

early years

The Bo family regained political influence in the 1980s. Bo Yibo successively served as the vice premier of the State Council and the vice chairman of the Central Advisory Committee, promoting the development of reform and opening up. He is known as "one of the eight elders of the Communist Party of China". Bo Yibo, while favoring looser economic policies, is politically conservative and had endorsed the use of force against demonstrators during the June 4 incident. After the incident, Bo Yibo ensured that Jiang Zemin succeeded Deng Xiaoping as party leader, and assisted Jiang Zemin in consolidating his power in the 1990s. Bo Yibo was a prominent figure in the party until his death in 2007, influencing his son's career.

After graduating from university, Bo Xilai was transferred to Zhongnanhai to work in the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Research Office of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Soon after, he was transferred to the deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Jin County (Jinzhou District), Dalian City, Liaoning Province[8]. In an interview with the People's Daily, Bo Xilai said that his surname brought obstacles to his career. "People have been forced to have reservations about me for quite a long time," he said. Bo Xilai then served as the deputy secretary, and was later promoted to the party secretary of Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone and Jinzhou District. In 1990, he became a member of the Standing Committee of the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the deputy mayor of Dalian. In 1993, he became the mayor of Dalian. His status in the party has been continuously improved. .

Rule in Dalian

Bo Xilai was a member of the Standing Committee of the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, deputy mayor of the Dalian Municipal People's Government, and deputy secretary of the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. In 1992, he served as the acting mayor of Dalian, and since 1993, he has been the mayor of Dalian. In June 1995, he was elected as the deputy secretary of the CPC Dalian Municipal Committee. In January 1998, he was re-elected as mayor.

When Bo Xilai was in charge of Dalian, he attracted a large amount of foreign capital, actively improved Dalian's natural environment, city appearance and infrastructure, and devoted himself to transforming Dalian from an industrial city with a traditional planned economy to a tourist city and an international conference and exhibition center, making Dalian During his administration, the economic growth rate was significantly faster than that of other cities in Northeast China, making Dalian one of the most economically developed cities in Northeast China, the largest economic city in Northeast China, and the most economically dynamic city in Northeast China , one of the most livable cities in Northeast China, and even mainland China. During this period, he put forward slogans such as "running the city" and "not seeking the largest, but seeking the best", with the intention of promoting urban value-added and thereby attracting foreign investment and developing various industries. Under his rule, Dalian established the Dalian Football Festival, Dalian Beauty and Hairdressing Festival, etc., making Dalian an international convention and exhibition center in the north on the basis of the original old industrial base, also known as the "Pearl of the North".

In 1999, Dalian was rated as one of the first batch of tourist cities in China. He Guangwei, then director of the National Tourism Administration, positioned Dalian tourism as a "romantic city"; at the beginning of the 21st century, it was jointly awarded by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and China National Tourism Administration. best tourist city. In 2001, when Bo Xilai was transferred away, Dalian citizens flocked to see him off. Bo Xilai walked for an hour for the 200-meter road.

The 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

During the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1997, the family launched an unsuccessful campaign to secure Bo Xilai's promotion to the Central Committee. Although China disapproves of nepotism, Bo Yibo knows all about his son's ambitions. Bo Xilai, with outstanding academic qualifications, finally defeated his younger brother Bo Xicheng to become the representative of the family.

To amplify the influence of Bo Xilai's election during the 15th National Congress, the Bo family launched a nationwide campaign to publicize Bo's "achievements" as mayor of Dalian. They commissioned writer Chen Zufeng to describe Bo Xilai as "a politician like Henry Kissinger, with Al Gore's awareness of environmental protection, and loved by the public like Princess Diana. " Although there are propaganda activities, Bo Xilai He came to the Liaoning delegation but did not have a seat. In the end, Bo Yibo had to help him obtain a seat in the Shaanxi delegation, but the young Bo Xilai was still unable to be promoted. The reason Bo Xilai was not elected was because of the party's general opposition to nepotism. In addition, during his tenure in Dalian, Bo Xilai used the remaining provincial funds to purchase "special care" for coastal cities, causing resentment. He believes that relatives have locked up his party interests in order to compete with Li Tieying, which created obstacles for his promotion.

Governor of Liaoning

In September 1999, Bo Xilai became member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Secretary of the Dalian Municipal Committee of the Liaoning Province. In 2001, Liaoning governor Zhang Guoguang was embroiled in a corruption scandal, which brought Bo Xilai a promotion opportunity. After Zhang Guoguang was arrested and dismissed in 2001, Bo successfully served as acting governor. In 2002, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee. In 2003, he formally assumed the post of governor of Liaoning Province. He took charge of the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing until 2004.

When Bo Xilai was in charge of Liaoning, it was the trial period of Shenyang's "Muma case" and related cases. During this period, a group of provincial and municipal corrupt officials were dropped, and his handling of the Yang Rong case caused controversy. In 2004, Bo Xilai was transferred from Liaoning Province to Beijing to serve as Minister of Commerce of China.

During the final period of his tenure, China's State Council proposed an economic strategy to "revitalize Northeast China". Northeast China was once known as the "cradle of industrialization" in China. In 1980, the total industrial output value of Liaoning alone exceeded twice that of Guangdong Province. However, the Northeast has been forgotten in the wave of reform and opening up, and can only watch the prosperity and development of the southern and eastern coastal provinces. The economy is still largely dependent on state-owned enterprises, stagnant, and the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed workers are high. The revitalization plan aims to restore traditional industries in the region, deepen trade relations with South Korea and Japan, encourage investment in both countries, and select cities to experiment with free trade zones. In 2004, state media reported that foreign direct investment in Liaoning had nearly doubled since the 2003 strategy to revitalize the Northeast was launched.

Although Bo built a reputation as a relatively clean politician during his administration in Dalian and Liaoning, he was not immune to allegations of corruption, especially when Jiang Weiping, a whistleblower in the Muma corruption case and a reporter from Liaoning, revealed in his investigative report that Bo obtained money from it. beneficial political scandal. It was reported that "China's developed cities are like Europe, and the countryside is like Africa." Bo even held a banquet to celebrate after Bo left Liaoning in 2004.

Ant Lishen Incident

When Bo Xilai was the Governor of Liaoning Province, he had a good relationship with Wang Fengyou, chairman of Yilishen, and visited Yilishen Company many times. In August 2006, under the tenure of Minister Bo Xilai, the Ministry of Commerce of China awarded Yilishen a direct selling license, and was approved to engage in direct selling activities in 14 administrative regions of Liaoning Province. Because of the suspected problem of adding western medicine before, and Yilishen has never had direct sales experience, this move surprised the direct sales industry.

organ sale

Allegations of organ and corpse trafficking also paved the way for Bo Xilai's political career crisis in the future. In 2012, Hong Kong's "Apple Daily" reported that Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai had been involved in forced harvesting and trafficking of political prisoners' organs and corpses during their stay in Dalian. Moreover, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had already grasped this, so after the Wang Lijun incident broke out, the authorities quickly closed down the human specimen factory in Dalian. The Austrian National News Agency (APA) reported that Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang, the Central Political and Legal Committee in charge of the public security and armed police system, led the forced organ harvesting system and profit chain.

The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

During the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, because Bo's age, field of work and background met the potential candidates for the "fifth generation leader" who took power in 2012, Xi Jinping (son of Xi Zhongxun), then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Tuan Pai leader Li Keqiang, governor of Henan province, is considered his rival and a leading candidate to succeed Hu Jintao as party general secretary at the party's 18th Congress in 2012.

Minister of Commerce

In 2007, Bo Xilai met with US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez

At the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in November 2002, Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang Zemin as party general secretary, and Bo Xilai was appointed as a member of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. In February 2004, because Lu Fuyuan, the Minister of Commerce at the time, suffered from cancer and was unable to perform his duties, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided that Bo Xilai would go to Beijing to serve as Minister of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group. In May of the same year, after Lu Fuyuan died of illness, Bo Xilai took over the post of Party Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and began to preside over the overall work of the Ministry of Commerce.

The restrictions implemented by Bo as Minister of Commerce have significantly improved his international image and attracted the attention of domestic and foreign media. Handsome, articulate and open-minded, Bo's promotion from city official to central government official has been lavishly boasted by the media, boosting his status as a "political star." Bo's political image is seen as a departure from the seriousness and conservatism of Beijing's leadership. Youthful, close to the people and popular with female journalists, Bo's political rise rivaled that of John F. Kennedy.

During his tenure as Minister of Commerce, Bo restricted the continuous growth of foreign investment in China. His daily schedule is mainly to receive foreign guests and dignitaries. During his tenure as minister, Bo spoke fluent English. During meetings with U.S. officials, Bo allegedly told the struggling interpreter to stop translating because Chinese officials understood English and translating was a waste of time. In May 2004, he and several other ministers accompanied Premier Wen Jiabao to visit five European countries; and on May 3, 2005, at the "Sino-French Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Cooperation Fair" held by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he published a report that was later widely disseminated. "China recently purchased 30 Airbus planes, five of which are Airbus 380s. Due to the low profits of China's textile exports, China's exports of about 800 million shirts can only be worth one Airbus 380." Speech. The U.S. trade policy toward China has also sparked notable disputes. Maintaining a confident attitude of hope for reconciliation, Bo attended talks in Washington, held substantive discussions with his American counterparts, and signed agreements on intellectual property rights, services, agricultural products, food safety and consumer protection.

Bo Xilai also oversaw the restructuring of ministries, merging with the State Economic and Trade Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Bo has tried to balance the attention given to foreign investors and domestic business establishments. He began to grapple with imbalances in a retail sector largely dependent on foreign companies. He devised plans to protect Chinese industries' domestic competitive arenas from being quickly squeezed out by foreign-owned companies.

However, it was reported that Wu Yi, the Vice Premier of the State Council who was in charge of business affairs at the time, had a bad relationship with Bo Xilai, and in 2007, he "retired naked" to prevent Bo Xilai from taking over the position of Vice Premier.

Seventeenth National Congress

At the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2007, Bo Xilai was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He then stepped down as Minister of Commerce and took over as Secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee. Bo Xilai's predecessor and rival, Wang Yang, was transferred to be the Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee.

At that time, Chongqing was facing problems such as air and water pollution, unemployment, poor sanitation, and complications from the Three Gorges Dam. Relevant sources analyzed that Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, wanted to transfer allies out of Chongqing before the problem intensified. Bo was initially reluctant to go to Chongqing, dissatisfied with his new position. He wanted to become vice premier instead, but Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Wu Yi objected to making Bo the vice premier, especially since Wu Yi was a key point for Bo, who loves self-promotion.

On November 30, a month after the 17th National Congress, Bo officially assumed power in Chongqing, although Wang Yang vacated his post on November 13. While some see the transfer as an exile from the central government to the interior, sustaining Bo's perception of arrogance and high-profile antics of Beijing's views, others see the placement of the Politburo in charge of municipalities as propaganda.

Administer Chongqing

When Bo Xilai was in power in Chongqing, he launched a protracted war against organized crime and corruption. Between 2009 and 2011, about 5,700 people were ensnared in the sweeping operations, including businessmen, police officers, judges, government officials and Bo's political opponents. The operation was overseen by Wang Lijun, Chongqing police chief, who had worked with Bo in Liaoning.

Wen Qiang is one of the key targets of the operation, a city official who has performed outstandingly since He Guoqiang and Wang Yang. Wen Qiang, deputy head of the Chongqing Public Security Bureau for 16 years, was tried and convicted on a string of charges, culminating in a high-profile trial where he was sentenced to death. China observer Lin Heli believes that such a large-scale crackdown may have been approved by the central leadership, including General Secretary Hu Jintao, and Bo is more focused on making Chongqing a model for other regions so that he can benefit from successful political leadership.

However, Bo Xilai authorities detained individuals at will during the operation, and approximately 1,000 were sent to labor camps. Lawyers have been intimidated and harassed, and at least one lawyer was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the case. Li Jun, a fugitive businessman, claims he has been the target of Bo Xilai's anti-corruption drive because he has had land disputes with the government. After being kidnapped, tortured, and $7 million worth of his estate seized, he dropped his claim to the government for the land.

promote red culture

During his tenure in Chongqing, Bo launched a series of campaigns to promote Mao Zedong Thought, revive "red culture" and boost public morale. Activities called for the promotion of Mao Zedong's quotations, singing red songs, broadcasting revolutionary TV programs and operas, and encouraging students to work in the countryside with reference to the Cultural Revolution's Going to the Mountains and Going to the Countryside movement. During the campaign, the Bohe City Cultural Bureau launched the "Red Song Campaign", requiring every district, government department, commercial enterprise, educational institution, radio station, and TV station to sing "Red Songs" to praise the achievements of the Communist Party. Bo pledged to reinvigorate the city with a return to Mao-era Marxism.

On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the National Day, Bo sent "red text messages" to 13 million mobile phone users in the city. Xinhua News Agency reported that Bo's text messages generally come from Mao Zedong's Little Red Book, including "The world is ours, and everyone should do things together", "The world is afraid of being serious, and the Communist Party is the most serious." Bo also had city administrators erect new statues of Mao Zedong, while providing social housing for the underprivileged. Some scholars call it an example of the revival of Mao Zedong Thought in the national spirit of the Chinese Communist Party.

Responses to red culture have been polarized. Bo's revival of Mao-era culture and the accompanying social welfare plan were welcomed by the middle and lower income classes in Chongqing society, making Bo a well-deserved Marxist and New Leftist. By emphasizing material wealth, Bo is credited with turning cities into what he calls a "true socialist heritage." Some retired cadres were greatly encouraged, expressing a desire to pass on the "revolutionary spirit" to future generations, while others saw it as a means of celebrating the Communist Party's contribution to the country's economic development. But there are also doubts. Critics say it seems as if memories of the Cultural Revolution are coming back to mind. Critics have ridiculed Bo a "little Mao Zedong".

Leadership style

Although Bo's propaganda campaign has won popular support, his leadership style has been described as "propagandist," "ruthless," and "arrogant" by subordinates, city party officials, academics, journalists, and other professionals. The New York Times' Michael Wines wrote that while Bo possessed "astonishing charisma and a deep intellect," these qualities were biased by "a learned indifference to the crises that litter life's pathways of power . . . ...Mr. Bo came forward relentlessly, even in the absence of formal rules within the system to ensure the promotion of the strongest." Bo gave government officials onerous tasks, requiring them to work day and night throughout the week. It is reported that he called his subordinates to hold meetings late at night, publicly criticized and humiliated those subordinates he did not like, and even beat those subordinates who did not follow his requirements. The Daily Telegraph quoted a psychologist as saying that since Bo came to power, "the number of officials suffering from depression, self-immolation and suicide has risen...Officials now account for the lion's share of the number of patients seeking counseling."

At the end of 2009, China Central Television's well-known TV investigation program broadcast a focus report on Bo Xilai's special campaign to crack down on gangsters, expressing concerns that clearly ignored legal procedures. In response, Bo used his connections to get the show's host to suspend the broadcast, and the director was forced to switch to another show. Others who spoke out against Bo were met with reprisals. Li Zhuang, a lawyer from Beijing, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison in 2009 (later changed to 18 months) for defending more than half of Bo's crackdown targets. Cheng Li, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, said, “No one really trusts (Bo Xilai): many people are afraid of him, including some princelings who are considered to have a power base.”

social policy

The cornerstone of Bo's Chongqing model involves a series of egalitarian social policies aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor and easing the gap between urban and rural areas. Bo promotes the concept of "red GDP" - an economic model that embodies the egalitarianism of communism - and suggests that if economic development is akin to "baking a cake," the priority should be to divide the cake equally, not make it bigger.

To that end, the city spent $15.8 billion building apartment buildings for recent college graduates, migrant workers and low-income residents. In 2007, cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu were selected as pilot cities for projects to reduce the urban-rural gap and integrate urban and rural residents. The current Chinese hukou system divides citizens into rural and urban hukou, a distinction that not only determines where they live, but also affects their educational opportunities, medical benefits, taxes, and property rights, effectively dividing them into two Waiting for Citizens". Only 27% of Chongqing's 32 million residents held urban hukou in 2007, and the project aims to make it easier for rural residents to obtain urban hukou, not only for social equality, but also for the government to develop underutilized rural land. Under Bo's leadership, Chongqing established a land exchange, allowing villages to earn points to maximize farmland.

Bo's social policies sparked a taxi strike in November 2008, when 8,000 taxi drivers took to the streets for two days to protest high fares, cutthroat competition and rising fuel costs. State media has at times accused workers of rioting as instigating rebellion. However, Bo's government held a televised roundtable dialogue with demonstrators and citizens, agreeing to form a union. His handling of the situation earned him praise as a relatively reserved and progressive leader.

eavesdropping

Bo launched a large-scale electronic monitoring operation to assist in the special campaign against gangsters and evil. Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun served as the designer of this state-funded project, which was described by state media as "a comprehensive supporting wiretapping system covering the telecommunications Internet. "[60]. The system involves wiretapping and Internet communication monitoring, and its design was helped by Fang Binxing, a network security expert and a key figure in the construction of the Great Firewall.

According to the New York Times, the wiretapping operations not only targeted local criminals, but also involved communications between party and state leaders, including then-General Secretary Hu Jintao. Sources said that Bo Xilai attempted to monitor all central leaders who visited Chongqing in order to better understand their perception of him. In August 2011, a phone conversation between Hu Jintao and Ma Li, an official of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, was tapped by Bo. The explanation revealed by the wiretapping has drawn strict scrutiny from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The operation is said to have ended with Bo's ouster in 2012.

death of neil wood

On November 14, 2011, British citizen Neil Heywood (referred to as "Neil Wood" in the official notification) was found dead in the guest room of Chongqing Nanshan Lijing Resort Hotel. At the time, local authorities announced his death as a result of excessive drinking, but his family said Neal was not an alcoholic. The official cause of death was not investigated carefully until Neil Heywood was determined to have committed homicide a few months later, and Bo Xilai was involved.

Neil Heywood is a Western business intermediary linked to Chinese politicians. He is a long-term assistant of the Bo family. He is said to have had an intimate relationship with Bo Xilai's wife, Gu Kailai, and helped the couple's son, Bo Guagua, obtain a degree from Harrow School in the UK. Heywood is also suspected of acting as an intermediary for the Bo family, assisting them to secretly transfer large sums of money overseas.

In October 2011, it was reported that Neil Heywood had a business dispute with Bo’s wife Gu Kailai. Neil demanded a higher commission for his services, otherwise he would disclose the business dealings of Bo’s family and the estimated total amount of more than 136 million U.S. dollars. overseas assets. Heywood was allegedly poisoned by Gu Kailai and his assistants at the time.

step down

On February 9, 2012, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Office stated in response to inquiries that Wang Lijun, the deputy mayor of Chongqing, entered the US Consulate General in Chengdu on February 6 and left after staying for one day. Relevant departments are investigating this. On March 14, Wen Jiabao, then Premier of the State Council of China, publicly asked the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government to reflect on the Wang Lijun incident and learn from it at the press conference of the "two sessions". The next day, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided that Bo Xilai would no longer serve as the secretary, standing committee member and member of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, and Zhang Dejiang, the vice premier of the State Council, would concurrently serve as a member, standing committee member and secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee.

On April 10, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to suspend Bo Xilai's position as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and a member of the Central Committee, and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China filed a case to investigate Bo Xilai. Authorized by the official media Xinhua News Agency, the public security organs have conducted a review of the "Neil Wood death case", and Bo Xilai's wife Gu Kailai (called "Bogu Kailai" in the official report) has a conflict of economic interest with Heywood , There is evidence that Heywood died of homicide. Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, an employee of the Bo family, are suspected of major crimes. The two are suspected of intentional homicide and have been transferred to the judiciary. On September 28 of the same year, the Politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reviewed and passed the "Review Report on Bo Xilai's Serious Disciplinary Violation Case" issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China. Clues to criminal issues are transferred to judicial organs for handling according to law.

On October 26, 2012, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress announced that the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress had dismissed Bo Xilai from his position as a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress. According to the relevant provisions of the Law, Bo Xilai's qualification as a deputy to the National People's Congress is terminated and he can be transferred to the judiciary. On November 7 of the same year, the 7th Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee confirmed that the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee expelled Bo Xilai from the party.

trial

On July 25, 2013, the People's Procuratorate of Jinan City, Shandong Province, China filed a public prosecution against Bo Xilai in the Intermediate People's Court of Jinan City for alleged bribery, corruption, and abuse of power. At 8:30 on August 22 of the same year, the Fifth Court of the Intermediate People's Court of Jinan City, Shandong Province held a public hearing on Bo Xilai's bribery, embezzlement, and abuse of power case. The official Weibo of Jinan Intermediate People's Court rebroadcasted the trial. On the first day of the trial, the Jinan City Prosecutor’s Indictment stated that Bo Xilai accepted 21.79 million yuan in bribes (RMB, the same below), and embezzled 5 million yuan, which is a huge amount; deny.

On August 23 (the second day of the trial), the public prosecutor presented relevant documentary evidence in court during the morning trial, played the simultaneous audio and video recording of the interrogation of the witness Bogu Kailai on August 10, 2013, and read out his wife Bogu Kailai, the French Witnesses such as Patrick de Villiers testified and played relevant audio-visual materials, proving that Gu Kailai used the house purchase funds he received from Xu Ming to purchase real estate in France for 2,318,604,700 euros (equivalent to 16,249,709 yuan). I know this. After the court session in the afternoon, the public prosecutor presented relevant documentary evidence, the testimony of witnesses Zhang Xiaojun and others, photographs of physical evidence, the defendant’s statement and his own written statement, proving that Bo Xilai received air tickets, accommodation and travel expenses from Xu Ming through his wife and son. The repayment of credit card arrears, as well as the purchase of electric balance vehicles, etc., totaled RMB 4,431,432. In addition, Wang Zhenggang (handled in a separate case) who was then director of the Dalian Urban and Rural Planning and Land Bureau appeared in court to testify. In order to maintain the continuity of the trial, the court decided to continue the trial on August 24 with the consent of both the prosecution and the defense. On August 24 (the third day of the trial), the court continued to investigate the fact that the indictment accused Bo Xilai of embezzling 5 million yuan of public funds, and the witness Wang Lijun appeared in court to testify. In court, Wang Lijun claimed that the corner of his lip was broken with a punch from Bo Xilai.

On August 25 (the fourth day of the trial), the court continued to hear the case. Bo Xilai called Wang Lijun "poor quality" in court, saying that he had never learned boxing. Bo Xilai admitted that he had made mistakes and negligence in handling related issues, and said that the abuse of power had nothing to do with him, and he pushed the responsibility to Gu Kailai, Wu Wenkang and others. After the trial ended at 10:55 in the morning, the Jinan Intermediate People's Court held a briefing on the trial in Jihua Building. The spokesperson informed the media about the trial in the morning. The court investigation of the Bo Xilai case is over. On August 26 (the fifth day of the trial), after the public prosecutor and the defendant Bo Xilai made their final statements, at 13:04, Wang Xuguang, the vice president of the Jinan Intermediate People's Court and presiding judge of the Bo case, sounded the gavel. An adjournment is announced, and the collegiate panel will deliberate according to law and pronounce a sentence at a fixed date.

On September 22, the Jinan Intermediate People's Court made the first-instance verdict: Bo Xilai was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated all personal property for the crimes of accepting bribes, embezzlement, and abuse of power. On September 23, Bo Xilai filed an appeal. On October 9, the Higher People's Court of Shandong Province accepted Bo Xilai's appeal. On October 25, the Shandong Higher People's Court made a second-instance ruling on the case of the appellant Bo Xilai accepting bribes, embezzlement, and abuse of power: the appeal was rejected and the first-instance sentence of life imprisonment was upheld.

life in prison

On November 17, 2013, according to the Hong Kong newspaper "Sing Tao Daily", Li Wangzhi recently disclosed the recent situation of Bo Xilai in Qincheng Prison. He said that Bo Xilai was treated well in Qincheng Prison. He was supervised and accompanied by medical staff, he could make phone calls, and he would be allowed to visit him after a while.

Bo Xilai has a 16-square-meter single room in Qincheng Prison, and he doesn't need to wear a prison uniform but can wear a suit. He often participated in group activities, practiced calligraphy, and wrote letters of complaint to the authorities seeking a retrial of his case.

New developments of Bo Xilai and his son

Radio France

Time: 17/12/2019 02:56

Author: Andre

The long-disappeared son of Bo Xilai, Bo Guagua, has news. Canada's "Globe and Mail" reported that Bo Guagua was working as a business analyst at Bauer Group in Canada. After both parents were imprisoned, Bo Guagua, who was studying at Harvard University at the time, was regarded as a "survivor".

The reason why people are still concerned about the dynamics of Bo’s father and son is that the fact that Bo Xilai, the secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and hoped to become a permanent member, was betrayed by Wang Lijun, the deputy mayor of Chongqing and director of the Public Security Bureau he promoted, and that he was thrown into the prison in Qincheng is “too bizarre.” ", he himself is still serving his sentence, and the official circles in Chongqing led by Xi Jinping's confidant Chen Min'er have to follow Xi Jinping's instructions to eliminate the residual poison of King Bo and his grandson.

Bo Xilai’s son, Bo Guagua, was studying in the United States at the time, but because her mother, Gu Kailai’s pet son, was in a daze, she actually poisoned and killed a British businessman. Wang Lijun knew that the situation was over, so he hid in the US Consulate in Chengdu, which caused a major incident of high-ranking CCP officials rebelling against the water. The United States did not provide him with asylum conditions. Wang Lijun He was picked up by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the murder case of Gu Kailai was exposed. Bo Xilai originally had ambitions to fight for power, but it ended because of the Wang Lijun incident. After his parents were imprisoned, Bo Guagua became a "vagrant".

The latest news about the father and son is that the 32-year-old Bo Guagua has been working as an analyst at Power Group Corporation PCC in Canada for two and a half years, and he joined the company through an internship program.

The "Globe and Mail" quoted an analysis saying that Bauer hired Bo Guagua to maintain its relationship with the CCP's elite. Some people think that Bo Guagua's connection with the second and third red generations still has a lot of contacts in China, but this kind of statement is very suspicious. The newspaper quoted Lin Heli, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as analyzing that it was "a bit surprising" that Baoer Group hired Bo Guagua. Bo Xilai used to compete with Xi Jinping for leadership. "I don't think the PCC wants to create an image of hiring the son of one of Xi Jinping's main enemies."

Since Xi Jinping came to power, he has gone back to Bo Xilai's "red song line" in Chongqing, and many dissatisfied people in the party always compare Xi with Bo in private, and feel that Xi is not as good as Bo. It is also said that at least Bo is more civilized than Xi, which makes Xi more vigilant.

Bauer & Co. was one of the first Western investors to enter China more than 40 years ago, and has maintained relationships with Chinese Communist Party dignitaries for many years, "including the relationship with the Bo Xilai family."

Bo Xilai, who is currently in prison in Qincheng, and his father Bo Yibo, a veteran of the Communist Party of China, once served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Committee and played an important role in forcing Hu Yaobang to step down. His son Bo Xilai was also a member of the CCP's succession echelon. On November 24, Bo Xilai's second sister, Bo Jieying, passed away. Bo Xilai also entrusted his family to send a wreath, and the wreath couplet was written with the words "Dear second sister will always be missed", which aroused some associations.

According to a report by pro-Beijing media Duowei, although Bo Xilai is in prison, his contact with the outside world, especially his family, has not been interrupted. Deng Nan, the daughter of Deng Xiaoping, and Liu Yuan, the son of Liu Shaoqi, also sent wreaths to mourn their old friends. The relationship between them does not seem to be affected by Bo Xilai's imprisonment.

Interview: The Bo case and the death game of China's rich and powerful (Part 1)

Updated March 29, 2013, 15:03 GMT

The Bo Xilai incident that shocked the world has been called the biggest unsolved case of the Communist Party of China in more than half a century. While setting off a political storm, it aroused widespread international attention.

He Pin, a Chinese political commentator, founder and editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel, and Huang Wenguang, a well-known Chinese writer, co-authored a new English book "The Death Game of China's Nobility", which focuses on the case of Bo Xilai and reveals the power struggle at the top of the Communist Party of China the inside story. The book has been recommended by the American "Foreign Policy" as one of the 25 must-read books this year.

The book "The Death Game of China's Nobility" revealed some inside information about the complicated and confusing Bo Xilai incident, and also explained some of the mysteries in the incident. BBC Chinese reporter Ji Wei interviewed the two authors respectively. He Pin talked about the inside story of Quandou, and Huang Wenguang talked about the doubtful points of the Bo case and what he discovered when he went to the scene in Chongqing.

The following is the first half of an exclusive interview with He Pin, one of the authors of "The Death Game of the Chinese Nobility".

Ji Wei, reporter from BBC Chinese website: This book "The Death Game of China's Nobility" uses the Bo Xilai incident as the main line to reveal the inside story of the power struggle at the top of the Chinese Communist Party, but why is it written in English instead of Chinese?

He Pin (one of the authors): The Chinese publish English books in the West, most of which are literature, academics and history, and rarely involve contemporary Chinese politics. On the one hand, those who know the situation may not dare to write, and those who dare to write do not know the situation. Therefore, reports on China and comments on contemporary politics in the Western world are basically done by Westerners. We have always wanted to change this phenomenon. Many things that happen in China today should be explained by the Chinese.

Ji Wei: Are you still planning to publish in Chinese?

He Pin: It will be translated into Chinese and published. As a matter of fact, the Chinese people have mastered the Bo Xilai incident, and it has been very rich through Chinese publications.

Ji Wei: As you said, there are already many Chinese books that have a lot of reports on the Bo Xilai incident, so does "The Death Game of Chinese Nobility" reveal anything new about the Bo Xilai incident? How did you obtain inside information about the case? How can you prove that the information you have obtained is true?

He Pin: I wrote this book because of a chance. On February 2 last year, I received a mysterious phone call from the Hyatt Hotel in Taiwan, telling us that Wang Lijun had been removed from his post. As the British "The Economist" said in an article in the February issue, our initial report detonated the beginning of the whole incident. Since then, mysterious people have provided us with many developments and backgrounds of Bo Xilai's case. At the same time, we have also met some people who have a long relationship with Bo Xilai's family and people who support Bo Xilai. Therefore, people who support, oppose, and want to expose the Bo Xilai issue all provide us with information. Including those who provided information and were interviewed by us, there were at least 50 people before and after. Therefore, we can get more diverse and multi-angled insider information about the Bo Xilai incident from different angles.

Ji Wei: How do you prove that the materials they provided you are true?

He Pin: We have done a lot of verification. For example, the person who provided us with information at the beginning revealed that the Dalian Air Crash was actually Bo Xilai's killing and silence, or that Bo Xilai and his wife were involved in smuggling and trading of human organs. These are all sensational allegations. After repeated verification, we found that these two allegations cannot be said to be completely non-existent, but there are many doubts, so they are not used in the book. We use official materials and repeated cross-validation materials to verify whether the information is reliable. If it is relatively reliable, we will use it, and if it is not reliable, we will not include it in the book.

Ji Wei: It is generally commented that Hu Jintao's dismissal of Bo Xilai as general secretary was a major political achievement for him, but you put forward a completely different explanation in your book. What is the reason?

He Pin: Because people have always been dissatisfied with Jiang Zemin's administration in the past, they have expectations for Hu Jintao, but he has done nothing during his ten years in office. When he was about to retire, the Bo Xilai incident occurred, so many people thought that Hu Jintao was very great, he became a blockbuster and dealt with Bo Xilai. We also saw it that way at the beginning, but after learning more and more about the situation, we found that it was not the case at all. First of all, in terms of political thought, Hu Jintao is a very left-leaning person. But we found out later that Bo Xilai himself did not actually support Mao Zedong. His family was persecuted by Mao when he was very young, so he hated Mao very much. Their family even made a paper figurine of Mao Zedong, and then pricked the paper figurine with a needle, cursing Mao Zedong. So why did he sing red and fight black later? It was entirely for political purposes, to cater to Hu Jintao, and to cater to a group of people who are dissatisfied with society. In fact, he is completely a populist and utilitarian. His campaign of singing red and fighting black is exactly what Hu Jintao wanted to do. Second, we found through many investigations that the relationship between the two of them is very close. Every time Bo Xilai returns to Beijing, he has to have a long talk with Hu Jintao. Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao were members of the Politburo Standing Committee who did not go to Chongqing. The outside world believed that this showed that he did not support Chongqing. In fact, this was a misunderstanding. Before the Bo Xilai incident happened, we got reliable information that Hu Jintao was going to inspect Chongqing before the 18th National Congress and after last year's Two Sessions, to give Bo Xilai the strongest support. Therefore, through many investigations, we found that the Bo Xilai incident was not what Hu Jintao wanted to do, but Chongqing's singing red and fighting black was actually the political legacy he wanted to leave behind. In addition, he also wants to use Bo Xilai's rise in the political arena to contain Xi Jinping, who is not his official successor, to a certain extent. So judging from many factors, Hu Jintao's role in the Bo Xilai incident was not what the outside world said.

Ji Wei: Your book mentions a relatively important person named Ling Jihua. He was the director of the Central Office during the Hu Jintao era. He was once considered a rising star at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, but he was demoted from the secretary of the Central Secretariat to the head of the United Front Work Department. , there are rumors that it is because of his relationship with Bo Xilai, do you know the inside story?

He Pin: We have contacted Ling Jihua's early colleagues and later colleagues, and the common conclusion is that he is a cautious workaholic. On the one hand, he is very cautious in dealing with others, but on the other hand, he works like a madman. He is very careful and imitates Zhou Enlai a bit. He only sleeps for two or three hours every night. Except for playing table tennis, he is working all the time. After the Bo Xilai incident came out, he was the director of the Central Office and executed a series of punishments for Bo Xilai. At first we also mistakenly thought that he was someone who opposed Bo Xilai's camp, but later we found out that it was completely the opposite. Ling Jihua's father and Bo Xilai's father Bo Yibo were as close as brothers. At that time, Bo Yibo wanted to adopt Ling Jihua as an adopted son. Later, Ling Jihua was taken from a county in Shanxi to the League Central Committee. Bo Yibo Played a big role. Therefore, the relationship between Ling Jihua and Bo Xilai is as close as brothers, and his appointment as the director of the Central Office has brought the relationship between Hu Jintao and Bo Xilai closer. What happened to Ling Jihua was followed by a very strange car accident. Three days after Bo Xilai lost his freedom on March 15 last year, Ling Jihua’s son had a car accident. His way of covering up the car accident made him politically It caused more internal controversy, so he was demoted after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. But what role he and Zhou Yongkang played in the whole Bo Xilai incident is still a mystery.

Interview: The Bo case and the death game of China's rich and powerful (Part 2)

Ji Wei: After the Bo Xilai incident, Zhou Yongkang was rumored to be a staunch ally of Bo Xilai, and many corruption incidents were exposed, but he still sat on the throne of the Central Political and Legal Committee Secretary until the eighteenth Up and down. Do you think he's still going to be okay in the future?

He Pin: Historically speaking, Zhou Yongkang will not be safe and will definitely be liquidated. Because he not only involved corruption in his tenure, which is a common feature of all officials. More importantly, for Zhou Yongkang personally, he established a CCP stability maintenance system that is no less than the fascist spy system. Total social control. So from a historical point of view, it will definitely be liquidated. But from the perspective of the CCP, he is now a toothless tiger, so from the perspective of the CCP's own security interests, it is still unknown whether he will be liquidated. In my opinion, it is not easy to pull him out as a sacrifice for anti-corruption, because the relationship within the CCP is not a black-and-white relationship, but a relationship where mutual interests are intertwined and black and white are confused. The liquidation of Bo Xilai will hurt them They themselves, liquidating Zhou Yongkang will also hurt themselves. So if Zhou Yongkang is honest and does not pose a challenge to the current dignitaries, the possibility of them taking him as a sacrifice is relatively small. However, after Zhou Yongkang stepped down, his confidant, Li Chuncheng, deputy secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, was arrested, giving everyone another hope. We certainly hope that Zhou Yongkang will be liquidated.

Ji Wei: There used to be rumors that Jiang Zemin had benefited from Bo Yibo's consolidation of power, but why did he also support the removal of Bo Xilai?

He Pin: Jiang Zemin is a very contradictory person. When he was on stage, many people disliked him, but after he stepped down, he felt that his influence was increasing. Some people think that this is because he likes to show off and like to fight for power. In fact, the most fundamental reason is Hu Jintao's incompetence or inaction, so before the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he was a bit like "the emperor". Xi Jinping was launched by him, and he must first protect Xi Jinping's power from being affected. Bo Yibo is Jiang Zemin's political benefactor. Of course he hopes that Bo Xilai will also keep his interests, but just like the emperor, once he decides a prince to be his crown prince, if other princes want to challenge him, he will have to sacrifice other princes. Otherwise, the country will be in chaos. From this perspective, in order to maintain Xi Jinping's power, he has to sacrifice Bo Xilai. We got news that when Jiang Zemin commented on Bo Xilai, he said that what Bo Xilai and his wife did broke the bottom line of human civilization. This sentence is very interesting. The entire politics in China today is below the bottom line of civilization. Why did Bo Xilai break the bottom line of civilization? In fact, everyone is below the bottom line of civilization.

Ji Wei: In "The Death Game of China's Nobility", a considerable amount of space is mentioned about a businessman named Xu Ming. The outside world does not know much about this person. Can you talk about your views on Chinese businessmen and businessmen based on his role in the Bo Xilai incident? Is it political?

He Pin: The relationship between businessmen and officials is generally understood as that officials have an absolute advantage, while businessmen are at a disadvantage, and businessmen must flatter officials. But that's not exactly the case in real life. The relationship between businessmen and officials is a community of rights. Without businessmen, the power of officials cannot be converted into benefits; conversely, if there are no officials and businessmen do not use the power of officials, they cannot promote commercial development in China. Because although China is called a market economy on the surface, in fact it is not the market that has the final say, but the mayor. No businessman in China can escape the constraints of politics. Once a power struggle occurs, the businessman will become the easiest victim to be sacrificed, accusing the businessman of bribery and so on. After the businessmen were in crisis, the society paid little attention to them, so after Xu Ming was arrested, few people mentioned him.

Ji Wei: You said in your book that Xi Jinping was the only winner in this incident. Why did you say that?

He Pin: Although both Xi Jinping and Bo Xilai are princelings, they do have a lot of common language and some common alliance foundations, but because Bo Xilai is too powerful, a bit like Wang Qishan, because Wang Qishan is too powerful, so You can only be the secretary of the Disciplinary Committee, and you can't even be the executive deputy prime minister. Because if it is too strong, it will pose a challenge to Xi Jinping. So at this time, a group of people tried their best to get rid of Bo Xilai, and Xi Jinping was optimistic. On the one hand, the people who got rid of Bo Xilai would be hurt politically, and on the other hand, the power of Bo Xilai was eliminated. , he is the fisherman's success. He is now in full power and is considered the most powerful Chinese leader after Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Ji Wei: After Bo Xilai's downfall and the media exposed many corruption incidents about him, there are still quite a few people in China who support Bo Xilai. Can you analyze this phenomenon?

He Pin: This reflects the maturity of Chinese society, unlike when the Gang of Four was defeated before. If a society has only one voice, and when one person collapses, everyone will suffer, that is a very childish and dangerous society. A normal society is like a court. Even if a person commits a crime, he should have a defender.

Ji Wei: But in Chongqing, the local people are very supportive of Bo Xilai, because he has done a lot for the people. Is this also the reason why some people support Bo Xilai?

He Pin: This may also be a reason, but many politicians are populists, and it is entirely possible to gain the support of some ordinary people by sacrificing long-term interests for political interests. For example, Bo Xilai cracked down on gangsters to improve social security. This is a very complicated matter. It is hard to say whether Bo Xilai did right or wrong. The problem is not here, the problem is that the voices of those who support Bo Xilai should also be heard.

Ji Wei: Can you predict how Beijing will deal with Bo Xilai? When will he be judged? Will there be a public trial?

He Pin: If the trial has not started now, it means that the authorities have not made up their minds, or have not made a final specific decision. So when the trial will be decided depends on whether they have finally reached a joint decision on how to deal with Bo Xilai. Once a decision is reached, the trial will begin immediately, so it can be seen that no consensus has been reached yet. In addition, China's judicial system has no basic independence to speak of, so it does not make any sense to have a trial open or not. Is the trial of Gu Kailai and Wang Lijun a public trial or not? Because China does not have an independent judicial system, it is entirely the CCP's own power that is manipulating the judiciary. In this sense, when and how Bo Xilai will be tried is not the key point. The key point is that we can believe that for those who want to get rid of Bo Xilai, they will do everything possible Let Bo Xilai not get out of prison alive, no matter whether he is sentenced to more than ten years, life sentence or death sentence, in short, he can't get out of prison alive.