Bo’s Tales Grows ‘Darker’ By the Day

choi

(1) Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim, Exclusive: China Communist Party scandal triggered by British man's death: source. Reuters, Mar 30, 2012.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2 ... USBRE82T0PH20120330

Quote:

(a) "The source, citing accounts coming from an unfinished central investigation, said it was unclear how much truth there was to the claim by Bo's former police chief, Wang Lijun, but he told Reuters he had 'no doubt' that Wang had raised it with Bo. * * * 'Wang Lijun has told central investigators that Gu Kailai turned on the British man because of economic interests and that she wanted to destroy him (Heywood),' said the source, who is generally sympathetic to Bo.

(b) "Beijing- and London-based relatives of Heywood told Reuters in separate interviews that they did not suspect foul play in his death. They both spoke on condition of anonymity.

"'It's preposterous. The more description (in the media), the darker it becomes,' the [Heywood's Chinese] family member said, occasionally breaking into tears in an interview in the lobby lounge of a hotel on the outskirts of Beijing late on Thursday.

"The family denied reports that Heywood was a spy and that he was cremated against their wishes.

"'We requested the cremation. We were not forced to do so. We have no doubts about the police report,' said one family member. * * * Heywood, 41, was not a heavy drinker, but was a chain smoker. His father, Peter, also died of a heart attack after drinks over dinner at his London home in 2004 at age 63, the family members said.

(c) "'Bo Xilai was a bold experimenter who was like a catfish stirring up China's stagnant political pond. His enemies couldn't catch him until now,' said the source, who knows Bo and his family and has close ties to other senior leaders.

"He said that according to Wang, Gu believed Heywood had abused or taken Bo family funds to which the Briton might have had access. Heywood's family members said he had no business dealings with the Bos.

Note: Regarding the sentence "By the time Wang arrived at the U.S. consulate, his relationship with his long-time patron, Bo, had already curdled into mutual distrust."

curdle (vi, vt):
"1: to cause curds to form in <curdled milk>
2: SPOIL, SOUR"
www.m-w.com


(2) Jonathan Ansfield and Ian Johnson, China’s Hierarchy Strives to Regain Unity After Chongqing Leader’s Ouster; Frenzied politicking at the top in an effort to patch up. New York Times, Mar 30, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/3 ... er-of-bo-xilai.html

Summary:
(a) “They say that the outward calm is tenuous” at top CCP leadership.
(b) “That precipitated a divisive meeting on March 7 of the party’s Standing Committee" whose vote tally was 8: 1 (Zhou Yongkang dissented) to oust Bo; “Mr Bo failed to attend a Parliament meeting the next day.”

(3) Hamish McDonald, Political chameleon's fall still puzzles China. Sydney Morning Herald, Mar 31, 2012 (opinion; available now).
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/po ... 20120330-1w3e2.html

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest, which is familiar to those of us.
(b) The opinion cites

Painful History; Kerry Brown and David Goodman say Bo Xilai's downfall shows the emotive power of the Cultural Revolution decades after it ended, and that cannot change until China comes to terms with its past. South China Morning Post (SCMP), Mar 20, 2012
http://sydney.edu.au/news/ChinaStudiesCentre/2265.html

(i) The SCMP website does not allow non-subscriber to read it for free.
(ii) A reader of English newspaper Financial Times is familiar with the style of the subtitle here, which was not the first paragraph.