As mentioned before, I wish to talk a little aboeut Bo Xilai, but since globally other issues become more important, I keep it short. He
was a man dreaming of being a big boy in Beijing and achieved already several
high provincial positions, such as Governor of Liaoning.
He would become Minister of Commerce for one term and finally arrive in
Chongqing. His strategy in opposing the current leadership was based on
populism, which comprised topics such anti-corruption campaigns and Mao –era
communism. Afterall, it is not unusual that a rising star of the provinces
wants to settle in Beijing. Afterall, the central government does put a lot of
pressure on their governors by setting specific growth and development targets.
Often economic support programs and grants are connected to these goals.
Obviously, the stakes are high, old elites feel threatened and China is simply
no democracy with freedom of speech or press. In the end, Bo Xilai's story
sounds like he fell for the greed, which he condemned so much. Sure, there are
a lot of politics and we can follow the targetting of his family. However, it is not likely that he is an innocent victim. Obviously, his family was involved in investment projects, which
indicate corruption and fraud. For more on the politics, I recommend this
article, The Heritage Foundation2012: Bo Xilai’s Fall Is Not Going to
Lead to Reform in China.
| from left: Gu Kailai, Bo Xilai, Neil Heywood, Wang Lijun |
Here are some details on the the saucy parts of this story. Bo Xilai has been
in the news for corruption and fraud as well as murder. Officially his wife, Gu
Kalai is investigated in regard to the murder of long-time business associate
and friend Neil Heywood. Heywood originally from Great Britain was said to
support the business efforts of Gu Kailai. Obviously the murder developed out of
an argument on money laundering. Gu Kalai asked Heywood to bring money out of
China, while Heywood was unhappy with his share of the deal. Well, better do
not mess with the dragon. The lady got him killed most likely. Not really surprising though, there was one article that she posed in a uniform of a PRC army general. I suppose she is still looking for her Chi, while others say it was about the Bo's city chief of police, Wang Lijun. Wang has been partly revealing details on the murder and accused Gu Kailai of covering up the case. It should be mentioned that Wang had been demoted by Bo Xilai over another scandal. Since the
current leadership of the PRC did have some issues with Bo and started to
target his family, I also want to mention the possibility of a plot. Especially, due to the fact that Wang came out with his story at a US consulate and holds a grudge against Bo. However,
it is not unlikely that Gu Kailai was involved. Recent media articles claim that
the lady had a multi-million EUR real
estate investment operation in Europe, mainly France. This operation is led by
a Frenchman, whose part in this story still has to be disclosed. More details
have been brought to the attention of readers all over the world through Asian
and Western media. Please also check on the links provided. ( The Telegraph 1 May 2012: Gu Kailai dressed up in army uniform and The News 16 May 2012: Frenchman maybe key to Chin scandal)
So far so good, what is next? Stay tuned for the economics behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment