Another Twist in the Spy Novel Saga of Bo Xilai

April 13, 2012 from LinkAsia

Chinese politician Bo Xilai's fall from grace has been steep and dramatic, and apparently hasn't reached rock bottom yet. This week, Bo's wife Gu Kulai came under investigation for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Here's how state broadcaster CCTV broke the news to Chinese citizens.

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Bo Xilai

Bo Xilai is a former Chinese politician. He came to prominence through his tenures as the mayor of Dalian and then governor of Liaoning province. From 2004 to November 2007, he served as Minister of Commerce. Between 2007 and 2012 he served as a member of the Central Politburo... Explore this topic

China

China, officially the People's Republic of China, is a sovereign state located in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the cap... Explore this topic

Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China

Politbyråns ständiga utskott är ett verkställande utskott som sköter Kinas kommunistiska partis dagliga angelägenheter när partiets politbyrå inte sammanträder. Även om utskottet formellt inte är Kinas regering är det i praktiken Kinas högsta politiska organ och ledande kinesi... Explore this topic

Neil Heywood

Neil Heywood was a British businessman who worked in China. He was associated with Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party of China Committee Secretary for Chongqing and a member of the Chinese Politburo. Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing, and the initial offi... Explore this topic

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China, also known as the Chinese Communist Party, is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China. Although nominally it exists alongside the United Front, a coalition of governing political parties, in practice, the CPC is t... Explore this topic

Chongqing

Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities in the People's Republic of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities, and the only such municipality in inland China. The municipality was crea... Explore this topic

Wang Lijun

Wang Lijun is a regional Chinese police official. He was the one-time vice-mayor and head of the Public Security Bureau of Chongqing, effectively the city's police chief. He is ethnically Mongol and is a native of Arxan, Inner Mongolia.He is famous for his involvement in the W... Explore this topic

Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China

The Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China, later officially called in English the Publicity Department, is an internal division of the Communist Party of China in charge of ideology-related work, as well as its propaganda system. It is not formally considered t... Explore this topic

Beijing

Peking ist die Hauptstadt der Volksrepublik China und hat eine über dreitausendjährige Geschichte. Der Name bedeutet Nördliche Hauptstadt. Peking ist heute eine regierungsunmittelbare Stadt, das heißt, sie ist direkt der Zentralregierung unterstellt und damit Provinzen, autono... Explore this topic

LinkAsia

From Beijng to Tokyo, from Seoul to New Delhi and beyond, LinkAsia takes viewers into media about Asia -- from Asia -- offering unfiltered insight into one of the most diverse, fast-paced regions of the globe. Each week, LinkAsia brings you a unique half-hour program that co... Explore this topic

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Bo Xilai

China

Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China

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Transcript

Yul Kwon:
Hi, welcome to LinkAsia. I'm Yul Kwon. This week, we're devoting most of the show to the biggest political shakeup to hit China since the fallout from Tiananmen Square. It sounds like a soap opera. And the star is a wildly popular politician, Bo Xilai. A few weeks ago, he was angling to become one of the nine most powerful leaders in the country -- part of the Politburo Standing Committee. Now, Bo's been suspended from his party posts. And it gets worse. His wife, Gu Kulai is under investigation in the murder of a British businessman, Neil Heywood, last November. Now you’d think that this story would be front-and-center of every news broadcast in China. But on the country's official news network, CCTV, we found the story mentioned only briefly just before the break. Here's how Chinese citizens learned about the latest twist in the Bo Xilai affair.

Anchor:
A former Chongqing municipal party secretary, Bo Xilai, has been charged with serious violations of party discipline. And the central committee of the Communist Party of China has decided to suspend his membership on the central committee and the Politburo. The investigation revealed that Bo's wife, Bo-Gu Kailai, is suspected of being involved in the murder of British citizen, Neil Heywood. And China's public security authorities have set up a special review group to look into the death of Neil Heywood, who died in Chongqing. And on November 15th, 2011, Bo-Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, a family employee, are suspected of premeditated murder and have been sent for judicial processing.

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