Advanced Search

Flies and Tigers | 抓蝇打虎

Bo Xilai expelled from the Party for crimes dating back a decade
薄熙来被开除党籍

Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily | September 29, 2012, Saturday | Print Edition

BO Xilai was expelled from China's Communist Party and removed from public office yesterday, with the former Politburo member and regional Party chief accused of crimes ranging from corruption to sexual affairs.

A statement from the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee said Bo's crimes dated back more than a decade, and included abuse of power, bribe taking and improper relations with several women.

Bo, 63, is also accused of involvement in the cover-up of his wife's murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, an act that was instrumental in triggering his downfall.

Bo's suspected law violations and relevant evidence will be transferred to judicial organs for handling, the statement said.

"Bo Xilai's behavior resulted in serious repercussions and enormous damage to the reputation of the Party and the nation, producing extremely vile effects domestically and overseas, and causing heavy damage to the cause of the Party and the people," the Political Bureau said following its meeting.

Murder confession

The scandal was set off when Chongqing City's police chief disclosed that Bo's wife had murdered the British businessman. Bo was sacked as Party chief of Chongqing and his wife, Bogu Kailai, was given a suspended death sentence after confessing to the murder. The former police chief, Wang Lijun, was jailed for 15-years for initially covering up the murder and other crimes.

The Party's 25-member Political Bureau, of which Bo had been a member, said yesterday that "investigations show that Bo had seriously violated Party discipline ... abused his power, committed grave mistakes and should be held responsible for the Wang Lijun case as well as Bugu's murder case."

Wang testified that Bo ignored him when he told him of his suspicions, then boxed his ears, demoted him, and detained several of his subordinates.

Investigation report

The Political Bureau said Bo took huge amounts of bribes directly or through his family and "maintained illicit relationships with numerous females."

It said Bo's crimes dated from his time as mayor of the northeastern port city of Dalian, through his term as commerce minister and as Party leader of Chongqing.

Yesterday's decisions were taken after the meeting had deliberated over and adopted an investigation report into Bo's severe disciplinary violations, which had been submitted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

At a meeting held on April 10, members of the Political Bureau were briefed on an investigation into an incident in which Wang Lijun entered the US Consulate General in Chengdu without permission as well as the reinvestigation into Heywood's murder.

Based on Bo's mistakes and responsibilities in the two cases, as well as evidence of his other discipline violations uncovered during the investigations, the CPC Central Committee decided to suspend Bo's membership in the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau while an investigation got under way.

It found that Bo seriously violated Party discipline while heading the city of Dalian and the Ministry of Commerce and while serving as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and as Party chief of Chongqing.

Bo abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident and his wife's murder case.

The investigations also found that Bo took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family.

Money and property

His position was also abused by his wife Bogu Kailai to seek profits for others, and the Bo family accepted a huge amount of money and property from others.

Bo was also found to have violated organizational and personnel disciplines and made erroneous decisions in the promotion of personnel.

The CPC Central Committee said Party organizations at various levels must use Bo's case as a negative example to enhance cadre education, management and supervision, maintain strict Party discipline, improve the Party's working style, speed up the building of the system for punishing and preventing corruption, and enhance the Party's capabilities of self-purification, self-improvement and self-innovation.

Flies and Tigers

All Flies and Tigers Articles



 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend