Smashing the Bos May Undermine Party & Nation, Long Tterm

choi

(1) Michael Wines and Sharon LaFraniere, Party May Be Long-Term Loser in Chinese Scandal; An orchestrated campaign that may raise doubt about leaders in Beijing. New York Times, Apr 14, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/1 ... -bo-xilai-case.html

My comment:
(a) The online report states in two paragraphs:

"The state-controlled capitalism pushed by Chinese leaders has created an economic colossus, but at the cost of a steadily widening gap in both wealth and privilege between the rich and poor. Mr Bo, though generally a supporter of the Chinese economic model, sought to build a political base made of ardent socialists by emphasizing the need to ensure more social welfare for the middle and lower classes.

"Citizens are both boiling over about and wearily resigned to corruption and impunity among their elites, a ubiquitous topic on the microblogs that increasingly are the national water cooler.

(b) In PRINT, the two paragraphs merge into one and have additional two elements ("by Mr Hu and Mr Wen--and opposed by Mr Bo--" and "From cities to the countryside"):

"The state-controlled capitalism pushed by Mr Hu and Mr Wen--and opposed by Mr Bo--has has created an economic colossus, but at the cost of a steadily widening gap in both wealth and privilege between the rich and poor. From cities to the countryside, citizens are both boiling over about and wearily resigned to corruption and impunity among their elites, a ubiquitous topic on the microblogs that increasingly are the national water cooler.

(c)
(i) I am firmly against the characterization "and opposed by Mr Bo." I do not know if Mr Bo Xilai favors state-owned enterprise (SOE) over private enterprise, though he reportedly prefers the state to throw its weight behind the effort to distribute (or re0distribute) wealth more equitably.   
(ii) Besides, I am agnostic about the part "pushed by Mr Hu and Mr Wen." China favors SOEs, but by whom in the leadershuip, I haave no idea,


(2) Jeremy Page and Cassell Bryan-Low, Death in China Alarmed Some UK Officials; Consular Aides' Suspicions Arose Months Before London Asked for an Investigation. Wall Street Journal, Apr 14, 2012 (front page).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 42063192698428.html

Quote:

"British consular officials in China * * * knew back in November that the businessman's Chinese wife had come under intense pressure from local police to agree to a swift cremation without an autopsy after his body was found in his hotel room in Chongqing.

"Mr Heywood told one friend the day before he died that he had been summoned to an emergency meeting with representatives of the Bo family in Chongqing and believed he was 'in trouble,' according to one person he contacted at the time.

"Consular officials who dealt with the matter reported to their superiors that his body hadn't been discovered for 36 hours

Note: The report mentions "Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne" and "David Miliband, who visited in 2008 when he was foreign secretary."

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_and_Commonwealth_Office
(created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office; The head of the FCO is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly abbreviated to "Foreign Secretary"; section 1 Ministers)


(3) Siobhan Gorman, US Keeping Close Eye on Chinese Upheaval; Watching in Silence, Officials See Leadership Turmoil as Test of Party's Hold, Fear It Will Lead to a Harder Line in Beijing.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 42131773187516.html

Quote:

"So far, such China specialists ]in US] say it appears the Chinese leadership is becoming more insular as it focuses on self-preservation, reducing the chance it will soon be open to the political and economic reforms the US would like to see. Such a defensive posture also could mean that in the event of a spike in tensions, Chinese leaders will feel they have more limited options, adding up to a harder line that asserts China's sovereignty, specialists say.

"That view comes from the observation that Chinese leaders appear to be making a more intense push than expected to isolate Mr. Bo. U.S. officials see this effort as an attempt to prevent the scandal from tainting the rest of the party's elite.

"'China's leaders have closed ranks around the need to deal decisively with Bo and that's significant,' said one US official. 'His ouster looks less like a playing out of factional struggles than the party's need to protect its image and credibility, especially during a time of major leadership transition.'

My comment: Because I have not seen this report in US edition of WSJ, I presume it appears in WSJ Asia on Apr 13 or 14.


(4) Andrew Higgins, Fans of Bo Xilai Rally to Ousted Chief in China. Washington Post. Apr 13, 2012.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wo ... QAJn8aFT_story.html
("Most of Bo’s previously outspoken supporters have now fallen silent in the face of a steamroller of official denunciation. But hit-and-run polemic strikes are being made on Web sites and Twitter-like micro-blogs. * * * Gauging how China really feels about Bo is impossible. * * * Those rallying to Bo’s defense do so mostly under cover of anonymity")

Note: Saint Mary's College of California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mary's_College_of_California
(a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, a small suburban community about 10 miles (16 km) east of Oakland;  began in 1863)

(5) Doug Saunders, In China, Social Media Bypasses the Party Line. Globe and Mail, Apr 14, 2012 (columnist).
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/n ... line/article2401724

My comment:
(a) The first clause of the article, "On Thursday morning," refers to Apr 12.
(b) Doug Saunders
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Saunders
(1967- ; "author of the book Arrival City (2011), in which he visited 20 locations on five continents to study the effects of the final wave of rural-urban migration on the cities of the world. The book has been published in [among others] Taiwan, and during 2012 will be published in China[, among others])
(c) Doug Saunders, Arrival City, How the largest migration in history is reshaping our world. Various publishers in different nations ( Pantheon in US and "Rye Field Publishing in Chinese (complex)") in 2011 and 2012.
(d) Rye Field Publications. Taipei.
http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/ryefield/
http://arrivalcity.net/