| by B. Raman
( October 1,
2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Can L’Affaire Bo Xinlai turn into Le
Cauchemar ( The Nightmare) Bo Xinlai?
2. That is the
question increasingly worrying the outgoing leadership of the Communist Party
of China (CPC) headed by Hu Jintao, which is to hand over to a new party
leadership headed by Xi Jinping at the 18th Party Congress starting at Beijing on November 8 next.
3. The
orchestration of the process for transforming Bo Xinlai from a senior party
leader on the way up in the party hierarchy into a non-person on the way down
to oblivion is continuing without respite.
4. After having
removed him from all posts held by him in the party and from primary membership
of the party on a plethora of charges, the secretariat of the National People’s
Congress (NPC) has now removed him from the NPC membership. This is meant to
ensure that when he is tried before a criminal court, he will not be able to
claim immunity from a criminal trial.
5. The way is
now cleared for his criminal trial. The present party leadership headed by Hu
is planning and hoping to have it completed before the new party leadership
takes over. Even after the November 8 Party Congress, Hu will continue to hold
office as the State President till the NPC Congress next March, which will
designate the new President and Prime Minister. He will also continue to be the
Chairman of the Central Military Commission till the party decides that Xi
should take over this post too.
6. Thus even
after November 8, Hu will continue to have the authority of the State and PLA
apparatus, but the party apparatus will no longer be under his control.In
China, of the three apparatuses---the Party, the State and the PLA--- it is the
control of the party apparatus that is the most important.
7. The present
leadership of the Party Politburo and its Standing Committee has been totally
behind Hu in his attempts to have the trial of Bo completed and the final
judgement pronounced before the next party leadership takes over.
8.Prime Minister
Wen Jiabao, who will control the process for the criminal trial, has also
thrown in his support behind Hu in an unusual and intriguing statement made
before a mixed audience of Chinese and foreigners without referring to the case
of Bo.
9.Addressing a meeting of
diplomats and officials on September 29,2012, at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen
Square in connection with the 63rd anniversary of the proclamation of the
People’s Republic of China, Wen was
reported to have said: "Let us rally more closely around the CPC central
committee with comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary. We have followed the
overall guideline of making progress while ensuring stability, strengthened and
improved macro regulations and given greater priority to stabilising growth.
While recognising achievements, we must always keep a cool head. Our country is
still at the primary stage of socialism and productivity is not high."
10. Wen’s call
for solidarity with the party leadership headed by Hu coincided with the
circulation of a statement attributed to Bo Guagua, son of Bo Xilai,who graduated from Harvard
University's Kennedy School earlier this year, in which he said:
"Personally, it is hard for me to believe the allegations that were
announced against my father, because they contradict everything I have come to
know about him throughout my life. Although the policies my father enacted are
open to debate, the father I know is upright in his beliefs and devoted to
duty. He has always taught me to be my own person and to have concern for
causes greater than ourselves. I have tried to follow his advice. At this
point, I expect the legal process to follow its normal course, and I will await
the result".
11.Bo Guagua
initially posted his statement in his blog and subsequently sent an E-Mail
authenticating it. It is not known whether he is still in the US or has come
back to China.
12.According to
some remarks in Chinese microblogging sites, the serious allegations made by
the Party against Bo Xinlai on September 28 while sacking him from the party
have failed to carry conviction with many of his supporters who seem to believe
he has been a victim of an over-demonisation campaign due to an inner party
struggle between those, like Bo, advocating a greater role for the State in the
economy and those opposing it. Their fascination for Bo Xinlai’s transparent
style of leadership as against the secretive style of the present leadership
headed by Hu remains intact despite the serious charges against him.
13.According to
a report circulated by the Agence France Presse: “ Residual support for the
charismatic Bo has worried a Chinese leadership that insists on total
allegiance to the course set by the party and the attack on Bo is meant to
exterminate it.” It has quoted an observer as saying that some protesters in
recent anti-Japan demonstrations over a disputed island chain carried banners
that voiced support for Bo, which alarmed many people in the party.
14.The
developing political situation in China needs to be closely monitored. Till
now, the leadership headed by Hu and Wen seems to have the situation under
control, but there are signs of nervousness. ( 30-9-12)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For
China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com
Twitter @SORBONNE75)
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