Once a rising star in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), for seven months his fate has been strongly contested behind the scenes by the Party leadership, with conflicting signals as to what the verdict might ultimately be. According to a Hong Kong newspaper, the deadlock has been broken and the disgraced former Politburo member Bo Xilai will soon go on trial.
Apple Daily reported on Sept. 25 that a source or sources said the Chinese regime, after waiting for the conclusion of the trial of Gu Kailai (Bo Xilai’s wife) and Wang Lijun (Bo’s former right-hand man), has acknowledged that Bo allegedly committed “serious offenses” and will be tried soon.
The Central Committee of the CCP has decided to revoke Bo Xilai’s candidacy for the 18th National People’s Congress and his Party membership and to hand his case over to the judiciary for criminal prosecution, according to Apple Daily.
Apple Daily did not report when Bo’s trial will take place. It will most likely be held before the 18th Party Congress, when the CCP’s once in a decade leadership transition will be announced. The Party Congress is expected sometime in mid-October.
Bo was the former Party head of the province-level city of Chongqing in central-west China and was touted as destined for the Politburo Standing Committee—the group of nine men who rule the CCP. His fall from the heights of the Party began when his former police chief Wang Lijun fled Chongqing on Feb. 6 to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu.
Bo risked an international incident by sending 200 police cars and armored vehicles to surround the U.S. Consulate in a bid to force Wang’s return. Wang instead ended up being taken to Beijing by central Party officials where he was stripped of his Party membership and interrogated.
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