Bo Xilai, the former Politburo member charged with bribery and abuse of power, will go on trial on Aug. 22, bringing the Communist Party’s gravest scandal in more than 20 years a step closer to its conclusion. Bo will face trial in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan in Shandong province, the official Xinhua News Agency […]
If Chinese leaders hope that the trial will put an end to the most sordid political scandal since the death of Mao Zedong, however, they are wrong. They will no longer speak of Bo after he is dispatched to the infamous Qincheng Prison outside Beijing, where the Communist Party imprisons disgraced senior officials. The questions raised […]
On June 20 of last year, two and a half months after disgraced former Chongqing Communist Party Chief Bo Xilai was dropped from the Politburo, another member of China’s elite 25-man decision-making body was all smiles in the southern city of Dongguan. During a tour of the bustling factory city, one of the most overt symbols of […]
In ways that China’s leaders were probably not expecting, the Year of the Dragon lived up to its hype. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2012 — as a dragon year — was supposed to be particularly lucky and momentous, charged with auspicious signs of change. While the Chinese government may dispute that this year has […]
Xi Jinping, the new head of China’s ruling Communist Party, told his fellow leaders that unless they address corruption social unrest may rise and it could lead to the demise of the party. “The preponderance of facts tell us that the more severe the corruption problem becomes, it will ultimately lead the party and the nation […]
Hu Jintao on Thursday said the Communist Party of China (CPC) must make unremitting efforts to combat corruption, promote integrity and stay vigilant against degeneration. Hu said combating corruption and promoting political integrity, which is a major political issue of great concern to the people, is a clear-cut and long-term political commitment of the Party. […]
China’s currency hit a 19-year high against the U.S. dollar on Friday. Not coincidentally, on the same day the yuan rose to 6.238 against the greenback, disgraced former Politburo member Bo Xilai suffered his latest indignity, with the official Xinhua News Agency announcing his removal from the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature. “According to the law on […]
It’s a rare afternoon in the Chinese capital when smog hasn’t blocked the skies, and one of China‘s most famous economists is in a sanguine mood. The economy is in trouble as the Communist Party heads for a once-in-a-decade transfer of power while prosecuting its former golden boy, Bo Xilai, on criminal charges. Worried investors […]
Some of China‘s most respected public intellectuals are warning that society and economy are being held hostage to the wealth-maximizing requirements of the political elite. These warnings echo privately in business circles, too, where entrepreneurs continue to be enthralled by the prospects of short-term profits but increasingly alarmed about their personal and financial security. Officials in developed […]
Questions do linger, and not only about Mr Xi’s health. That in itself is of course a matter of great import. He is currently China’s vice president, looks a bullish 59 years old, and has been groomed as the man who in coming months will replace Hu Jintao, the outgoing president and Communist Party chief, […]
looking beyond borders 