Bo Xilai

Bo Xilai _DDC7506
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So, we have the following on the news/opinion front. Seems like China is in the news again, and not for any positive reason.

Erstwhile Mayor of Dallan, Minister of Commerce, and the Chief of the Megacity Chongqing, Bo Xilai, is slated for trial by the seven members of the Party’s Standing Committee in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan in Shandong Province on August 22.

The humiliating trial is a big come down for the man known as the ‘princeling’ of Chinese politics having been born to a powerful limb of the ‘Eight Immortals‘ of the Communist Party, Bo Yibo.

The start of the public disgrace was the conviction of Ms Gukailai, wife of Bo Xilai, for the alleged murder of Neil Heywood, a British businessman reported on ‘good terms’ with Ms Gu, though an alleged clash of economic interests led to dissolution of the terms.

As succinctly put by one of the blogs featured in the Economist in Bo’s downfall there seems unveiling of a Chinese version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

It is ironic that Bo Xilai who rose to prominence and power by his crackdown on organized crime and managed to have admirers across the vast divides of China is going on trial for his alleged abuse of power and position, for allegedly amassing huge properties, embezzling large sums and causing loss to the nation and its people.

The old adage seems right after all : Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely.

The political world is all agog to see the outcome of the trial, of whether it is curtain call for Bo’s political fortunes especially as the events are pitted against the threat of divisions, of leaks of embarrassing secrets, not to ignore the turbulence within China

Hmmm, now we would be interested to see what direction this takes. Keep you posted!

By Foreign Correspondent

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