BEIJING — China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled the once-powerful political leader Bo Xilai and accused him of a long list of moral and criminal sins, officials said Friday, following months of rampant rumors and signs of serious debate within China’s leadership over Bo’s fate.
Bo will face multiple criminal charges for offenses involving women, sex and money, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. Xinhua also announced that China’s once-a-decade leadership transition has been set for Nov. 8.
The two moves, taken together, appear to signal that the party’s competing factions have settled the biggest lingering questions as it approaches the transition – who will sit on its next ruling council of leaders and how to handle Bo, whose wife and top aide were central players in China’s biggest political scandal in many years.
Bo’s spectacular downfall, and the murder mystery that entangled his wife, Gu Kailai, and his aide this year, threw the country’s rulers into turmoil at a particularly sensitive time, just months before the expected transition.
Many political experts had predicted that authorities would decide how to handle Bo’s case before the party congress, to ensure a smooth transition. But the dilemma has proven to be extremely sensitive for the party.
Prior to Friday’s announcement, one former party official explained the party’s dilemma over Bo this way: If Bo went largely unpunished, the new leadership would inherit an unresolved and potentially destabilizing issue. Punishing Bo too heavily, on the other hand, would risk angering his ideological allies and his many supporters, as well as his fellow “princelings” — influential figures who, like Bo, are the offspring of China’s revolutionary leaders.
Even as they delayed an announcement on Bo’s whereabouts or his fate, leaders dragged their feet for months on announcing a date for the once-a-decade leadership transition this fall. The unusual delay was interpreted by many experts as a sign of infighting among competing political factions about who would sit on the next ruling council.
Bo will face multiple criminal charges for offenses involving women, sex and money, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. Xinhua also announced that China’s once-a-decade leadership transition has been set for Nov. 8.
The two moves, taken together, appear to signal that the party’s competing factions have settled the biggest lingering questions as it approaches the transition – who will sit on its next ruling council of leaders and how to handle Bo, whose wife and top aide were central players in China’s biggest political scandal in many years.
Bo’s spectacular downfall, and the murder mystery that entangled his wife, Gu Kailai, and his aide this year, threw the country’s rulers into turmoil at a particularly sensitive time, just months before the expected transition.
Many political experts had predicted that authorities would decide how to handle Bo’s case before the party congress, to ensure a smooth transition. But the dilemma has proven to be extremely sensitive for the party.
Prior to Friday’s announcement, one former party official explained the party’s dilemma over Bo this way: If Bo went largely unpunished, the new leadership would inherit an unresolved and potentially destabilizing issue. Punishing Bo too heavily, on the other hand, would risk angering his ideological allies and his many supporters, as well as his fellow “princelings” — influential figures who, like Bo, are the offspring of China’s revolutionary leaders.
Even as they delayed an announcement on Bo’s whereabouts or his fate, leaders dragged their feet for months on announcing a date for the once-a-decade leadership transition this fall. The unusual delay was interpreted by many experts as a sign of infighting among competing political factions about who would sit on the next ruling council.