China’s Bo Xilai Slames Ex-Aide in Trial Exposing Chinese Elite – USA Today Article with Commentary by IEMS’ David Zweig
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USA Today covered the closing arguments of the corruption trial of one of the Chinese Communist Party’s former rising stars, Bo Xilai.
For deeper perspective on the issue, USA Today contacted IEMS’ David Zweig for his commentary on the trial and the new wave of anti-corruption efforts in China:
“Despite widespread belief that Bo is corrupt, “I think there are many people who have been surprised at the poor case put on by the prosecutor so far,” Peerenboom said. “The leadership sought to mitigate the damage to the party’s reputation by limiting the number of allegations and charges — given the reported wealth of Bo Xilai and his relatives, there would seem to be a lot more that could have been used against him,” said Peerenboom.
Bo is being punished for building his own power base in Chongqing, where he built a “model” that still resonates with some Chinese, especially those on the left, said David Zweig, a Chinese politics scholar at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
“He ran the city of Chongqing, the largest municipality in China, in a very socialist way, with public housing and trying to narrow the gap between rich and poor and between peasants and urbanites, letting farmers into the cities, and getting people to hark back to a positive view of the Cultural Revolution … but China does not brook independent kingdoms,” Zweig said.”
Read the full article here: Bo Xilai slams ex-aide in trial exposing Chinese elite
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