BO Xilai's Fall Endanger Allies

choi

(1) Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield, Leader’s Fall in China Put Allies in Peril. New York Times, May 21, 2012 (front page).
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/2 ... llies-in-peril.html

(2) Roderick MacFarquhar, In China, Fear at the Top; Unrest from below unsettles the party elite. New York Times, May 21, 2012 (op-ed).
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/2 ... ear-at-the-top.html
("Among the rumors circulating in China is that, once on the committee, Mr Bo [Xilai] would have tried to replace the party’s incoming general secretary and president agreed to by the outgoing leadership: Xi Jinping. * * * [Hu Jintao] did not have the prestige to appoint his successor. The low-key Mr Xi, a princeling like Mr Bo, emerged as a result of jostling behind closed doors. Lacking institutional legitimacy and a laying of hands by an elder, he might have looked an easy target to an ambitious Mr Bo")

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.
(b) Roderick MacFarquhar, Leroy B Williams Professor of Government
http://www.gov.harvard.edu/people/faculty/roderick-macfarquhar
(c) The article mentions "a laying of hands by an elder," which alludes to Jesus in New Testament. The following are from English Standard Version (2011).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Standard_Version
(i) Matthew 8:2-3: "a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
(ii) Matthew 8:14-15: "Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.
(iii) Mark 7:32-35: "Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, 'Ephphatha,' that is, 'Be opened.' Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.
(iv) Mark 8:22-25: "they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, 'I see men like trees, walking.' Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
(v) Mark 16:17-18: Jesus said "those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
(vi) Luke 13:11-13 ...there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
(d) "A laying of hands" is still done at present.
(i) laying on of hands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laying_on_of_hands
(photo)
(ii) The moment of ordination-the laying on of hands and prayer of ordination--Bishop Talyor watching on 2008-10-09, Vatican City
http://www.traveljournals.net/pictures/189259.html


(3) John Ruwitch, Analysis: China Reformer Sees His Opportunity After Bo's Fall. Reuters. May 21, 2012.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2 ... USBRE84K05G20120521

Quote:

Wang Yang "is the first of three provincial-level party bosses [along with party chiefs of Shanghai and Tianjin, Yu Zhengsheng and Zhang Gaoli, respectively] who stand to benefit after a murder scandal snuffed out Bo's career last month.

"Wang's performance at the Guangdong congress highlighted his image as the politician most likely to take up the reformist mantle of outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao, who had seen Bo as a threat to his reform legacy and moved swiftly to cut him down. * * * Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based expert on the Chinese leadership [said,] 'People think that he will sort of be the next Wen Jiabao, the standard bearer of the liberals in the new Standing Committee.'

"Whether Wen's likely successor as premier, Vice Premier Li Keqiang, will take up the reform mantle remains to be seen.

(4) Edward Wong, Chinese Security Chief Seems to Keep Grip on Power. New York Times, May 19, 2012
(ZHOU Yongkang)