CHINA - Where Chinese Media is Focused

"Bo Xilal Scandal Dominates Chinese Media" by Stephanie Ho, Voice of America 4/11/2012

China's worst political scandal in decades dominated newspaper front pages in the Chinese capital Wednesday: a high ranking politician suspended from his key central party post and his wife suspected in the death of a British businessman.

The articles say Bo Xilai's conduct has seriously violated the party's disciplinary rules and has badly harmed the image of the party and country.

The People's Daily, which is seen as the mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist Party, published an editorial Wednesday saying no one is above the law.

Bo is a former commerce minister and most recently was the party secretary of Chongqing, a huge city in southwestern China. He is the son of a famous revolutionary and was widely expected to eventually join the top echelons of Communist party in an important party conference later this year.

One of the final nails on his political coffin came late Tuesday night, in a brief dispatch from the state-run Xinhua News Agency that said Bo was being suspended from his membership in the party's central committee. Another report announced that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, is facing a criminal investigation in relation to the death of British businessman Neil Heywood last year.

Scandal, a reflection of party infighting?

Veteran writer Dai Qing, who closely follows Chinese politics, likens the unfolding events to a stage play - in which the audience watches, but cannot affect the outcome.

She says the latest political scandal illustrates a high-level and internal fight within the Communist party. She says most Chinese people have no say in matters and can only watch from the sidelines.

Xinhua says Gu and Heywood had business dealings, but they had a conflict about economic interests that had intensified. Heywood's death in Chongqing in November was not considered suspicious at the time, but police are now re-opening the case.

Dai says, if Gu committed murder or if Bo was indeed some sort of accomplice, then officials have to show proof of wrongdoing.

Dai says she is absolutely sure that Gu will receive a stiff sentence. She says she believes this is because it is, in her words, "the least damaging outcome for the party."

She adds that the Chinese Communist party wants to present a united front before a major meeting this fall. The session which takes place once every five years, is significant because the party will name the country's new top leaders.

China's Foreign Ministry refused to comment on what impact these events will have on the country's international image, and said only that the case is being handled by Chinese judicial authorities.

Focus on Bo's wife

Political commentators have highlighted the focus on Bo’s wife, noting that Chinese political culture is full of well-known historical references to evil women, who were singularly blamed for committing atrocities.

Michael Anti, a political columnist and blogger, says he found it odd that the official reports all referred to her as BoGu Kailai, which appends her husband's surname in front of her own.

"Chinese propaganda guys really intentionally want to tell the people: [the] woman is not the woman [by] herself. It's BoGu Kailai. It's Bo Xilai's wife," said Anti. "It's not targeting the woman, it's not like the evil woman destroyed a good man. It's that the man, himself, is evil."

Anti agrees that the scandal is indicative of a high-level power struggle. He compares the latest events in Chongqing to a serialized TV drama that he says was written and directed by China's central leaders, whom he adds are the only ones who know the real story.