'A Smear Campaign Against Bo May Be Under Way'

choi

(1) Malcolm Moore, Neil Heywood Seemed 'Very Happy' Days Before He Died. Daily Telegraph, Apr 6, 2012 (available now)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... before-he-died.html

Quote:

"Tom Reed, a 32-year-old journalist based in London, said he had dinner with Neil Heywood, 41, in an Italian restaurant in Beijing at the beginning of November. 'He was entirely unconcerned. He was very happy. He was not living in fear. The last time I saw him, just before he tragically died, he was on top form. * * * He had not had anything to do with Bo for some time. My own view is that he died of a heart attack. He did not give the impression that Bo was angry with him or wanted to silence him.'

"some sources have questioned the timing of the news of the UK’s demands for an investigation, suggesting that a smear campaign against Mr Bo may be under way.

92) The politics of corruption  | Dirty Tricks; A transition year gives plenty of opportunity for foul play. Economisrt, Apr 7, 2012 (available now)
http://www.economist.com/node/21552260
("the corruption allegation, whether true or false, can be brutally effective in sweeping aside a rival. * * * These days the corruption allegation is a choicer method to destroy an enemy than the ideological attacks of old. 'The excuse of fighting corruption helps legitimise purges,' says Jiangnan Zhu at the University of Nevada, Reno. It is handy too, she says, that corruption charges can be brought against nearly any official. Grey areas exist in every cadre’s daily work.")

My comment: The quotation applies equally to ex-president Chen shui-bian of Taiwan also.

(3) Mu Chunshan, Bo and the Kingdon of Rumors. The Diplomat, Apr 4, 2012 (blog).
http://the-diplomat.com/china-po ... -kingdom-of-rumors/

My comment:
(a) The last sentence of the blog states, "The government is making a rod for its own back.

(i) a rod for your own back. Macmillan Dictionary, undated.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/rod
("British  something you do that will cause problems for you in the future")
(ii) make a rod for your own back. Cambridge Dictionaries Online, undated.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ ... d-for-your-own-back
("If you make a rod for your own back, you act in a way which creates more problems for yourself in the future")
(iii) make a rod for one's own back. Oxford Dictionaries, undated.
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/rod
("do something likely to cause difficulties for oneself later")

The verb can be either "create" or "make."

One can imagine making a rod with which one day the maker will be whipped on the back.

(b) I am turned off by the anti-Bo faction(s) in Beijing, whoever they are. The smear campaign against Bo, who like all other political losers in China before (and after) him, while Bo is not allowed to address, is despicable.