China mulls risky public trial for fallen politico
中國考慮對垮台政治人物進行有風險的公開審判

China’s leadership faces a knotty choice in how to finish off fallen politician Bo Xilai without further damaging the Communist Party’s image: Purge him the old-fashioned way — in secret — or run him through a public trial.

Analysts and a veteran party member say leaders are leaning toward a trial, but either way the challenge is to prevent lurid allegations that Bo abused his power and that his wife was involved in the murder of a British businessman from upsetting a once-a-decade leadership transition just months away.

The leadership handover — in which President Hu Jintao and most others will cede their posts to Vice President Xi Jinping and a new group of leaders — will formally take place at a congress expected in the fall.

The leaders have “decided to wrap up Bo’s case as early as August so as to clear the biggest political uncertainty ahead of the congress,’’ Wang Xiangwei, the editor of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, who is thought to have close ties to the Chinese propaganda apparatus, wrote in an editorial.

(AP)

中國領導階層在如何了結垮台政治人物薄熙來而不進一步傷害共產黨形象一事上，面臨棘手選擇：用老方法─秘密地整肅他─或者要他接受公開審判。

分析家和一名資深黨員說，領導階層現傾向審判。但不論用這兩者中哪一種方法，挑戰都在於防止有關薄熙來濫權、其妻涉及一名英國商人遭謀殺案的聳動指控，打亂幾個月後就要登場的十年一次領導權轉移。

中共領導權預計將在今年秋天召開的黨代表大會上正式交接，國家主席胡錦濤和大多數其他官員將卸下職務，交棒給副主席習近平和新領導團隊。

據信與中國宣傳機器關係密切的香港《南華早報》總編輯王向偉在一篇社論中寫道，領導人已經「決定最快八月結束薄熙來案，以便在大會前清除這個最大政治不確定因素」。

（美聯社/翻譯：管淑平）