China’s once high-flying politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) was indicted yesterday for bribery and abuse of power, state media said, following a scandal that exposed deep divisions at the highest levels of government.
Bo, the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) boss of Chong-qing, will be the highest-profile official to be put on trial in China for decades.
He has not been seen in public for more than a year since he was detained following the murder of a British businessman by his wife and his right-hand man’s flight to a US consulate, triggering a huge political controversy.
“The indictment paper was delivered” to a court in Jinan, Xinhua news agency said, citing prosecutors in the city.
Bo “took the advantage of his position to seek profits for others and accepted an ‘extremely large amount’ of money and properties,” it said, quoting the indictment.
A source with direct knowledge of the case, who requested anonymity, said the trial could begin in the middle of next month.
There was no sign of increased security yesterday outside Jinan Intermediate Court, a huge gated building in the city center where the trial is due to take place.
News of the proceedings comes at a time when the party is trying to show it is cracking down on corruption and government waste. It has also had to manage the political rifts exposed by the downfall of Bo — once one of 25 members of the CCP’s politburo.
The decision to oust such a high-ranking leader would have required tough backroom negotiations among top leaders.
The trial would be an easier final step after the harder task of defusing any backlash among Bo supporters, said David Goodman, a China expert at the University of Sydney.
Holding the proceedings now would also allow leaders to draw a line under the scandal ahead of a key party plenum expected in the autumn.
“Politically it’s logical now to do this before the plenum in October so you’ve got a neatness about it,” Goodman said.
“The most difficult parts were all done,” he said, adding that the trial would probably “be dealt with in a boring procedural way with as little drama as possible.”
Both Xinhua and the People’s Daily, the CCP’s official paper, urged support for the decision.
Xinhua called on people to “recognize the ugly face” of officials “who sought personal gain” and on local governments to “defend the authority” of the Beijing leadership.
“China’s history has repeatedly proved that the stability and security of the country can only be ensured when the authority of the central government is maintained,” it said.
The scandal emerged last year ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition, in which Bo had been considered a candidate for the Politburo Standing Committee — China’s most powerful body.
His downfall was triggered after his police chief and right-hand man Wang Lijun (王立軍) fled to a US consulate in Chengdu, allegedly to seek asylum. Bo was detained a month later.
Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai (谷開來), was given a suspended death sentence in August last year for fatally poisoning businessman and family friend Neil Heywood. The penalty is normally commuted to a life sentence in China.
Wang was sentenced to 15 years in prison in September last year for defection and other crimes.
Bo himself was removed from his party and government posts, losing his legal immunity at the end of last year.
Official media said he had “borne major responsibility” for the murder of Heywood and had taken “massive” bribes and had indulged in inappropriate sexual relations with “multiple women.”
Bo has appointed two lawyers, both members of a law firm that has close ties to the CCP.
In China, trials of such high-level officials accused of corruption are less about legal process than they are about decisions hammered out by politicians and the party’s graft investigators, and announced by a court.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was