On Sept. 8, Boxun cited an unconfirmed source in reporting that Xi Jinping’s car was hit by two SUVs the night of Sept. 4. The report was taken down after less than two hours. Xi was said to have been taken to the 301 hospital and to be in stable condition.
The same report claimed that He Guoqiang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee—the group of nine men who run the CCP—was involved in another accident one hour after Xi and was in critical condition.
He Guoqiang heads up the secretive Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and led the investigation of Bo Xilai. Both Xi and He were believed to play important roles in the ousting of Bo.
Soft Landing
Not long after Wang Lijun fled Chongqing on Feb. 6 seeking asylum in the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, Bo Xilai was stripped of his Party posts and subjected to abusive Party interrogation. Yet in recent months, Bo has seemed to be headed for a soft landing.
Bo was the key figure in the powerful Party faction assembled by former CCP head Jiang Zemin and was rumored to be ticketed for the Politburo Standing Committee. During Wang’s stay at the U.S. Consulate, Wang is said to have revealed a planned coup attempt by Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang against Xi, after Xi took power at the 18th Party Congress.
After Wang was taken into the custody of central Party authorities, Bo was not charged with any proposed coup. Instead, his wife, Gu Kailai, was charged with the murder in November 2011 of British businessman Neil Heywood, a crime that Wang had at the time covered up, even while holding onto the incriminating evidence.
Gu’s trial last month appeared to be managed in a way favorable to her and Bo. Bo’s name did not come up in the trial, except that the state-run media referred to Gu as “Bogu Kailai.”
The court seemed to accept exculpatory arguments advanced on Gu’s behalf in giving her a suspended death sentence. After two years, that sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment, and that sentence can be reduced for good behavior at the court’s discretion.
In September, the Hong Kong-based Open Magazine published its chief editor’s exclusive report that the CCP’s top leaders had reached an agreement that Bo would be removed from all his Party positions but would keep his Party membership and be exempted from criminal sanctions. The decision was said to have been made at the Beidaihe meeting, which is the last closed-door meeting before the 18th Party Congress.
The Beidaihe decision was believed necessary in order to preserve the power balance at the top of the Party and to keep it from collapsing.
Another sign that Bo was being given a soft landing was the announcement on Aug. 31 of the representatives of the National People’s Congress: Bo made the list.
Next ... Targeting Bo
Targeting Bo
Bo’s prospects suddenly changed on Sept. 5, with the announcement of the charges against Wang Lijun.
The four charges are bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power, and taking bribes. Previously, those following Wang’s case had guessed he would only be charged with defection.
In describing the charge of bending the law for selfish ends, the prosecutor said: “[Although Wang] had known beforehand that Bogu Kailai was under serious suspicion of murdering Neil Heywood, he consciously neglected his duty and bent the law for personal gain so that Bogu Kailai would not be held legally responsible.”
While this charge sounds reasonable, it contradicts the charge of defection. It also points at Bo Xilai. If Wang voluntarily covered up for Gu Kailai, he had no reason to defect to the U.S. Consulate.
If Wang didn’t voluntarily cover up for Gu, he must have done so under pressure. That Wang would blackmail Bo is inconceivable. But Bo could reward Wang, and he is the only one in Chongqing who could pressure Wang.
The description of the charge of abuse of power also links to Bo. According to prosecutors, “Wang illegally used technical reconnaissance measures, either without the approval of authorities or by forging approval documents.”
Wang held the highest position in the Chongqing police—he was the authority for issuing or signing approval documents in Chongqing. Listening in on the phone conversations of top CCP leaders was out of Wang’s jurisdiction and is something he and Bo are widely rumored to have done.
Wang Lijun really didn’t have a motive for such tapping. He was only a provincial police chief and didn’t have much of an opportunity on his own to jump to a position at the national level.
Bo, however, was aiming at the Politburo Standing Committee or higher and had every motive for wanting to know the secrets of the current Standing Committee members. And Wang had every motive for assisting in the rise of Bo’s political star.
Wang Lijun allegedly committed many crimes, at least including carrying out thousands of organ harvesting and transplantation experiments, likely including living Falun Gong practitioners; torturing or even torturing to death suspects in Bo’s “Hit the Black” campaign (putatively directed against mobsters); raping female police officers, and so on.
The charges brought against Wang were not for his breaking the law, but to satisfy political necessity. That same necessity requires explaining charges to the public once they are filed.
A single defection charge was all that was needed for the Party to do whatever it wanted to Wang. Bringing other charges only causes unnecessary trouble for the Central CCP, unless the extra charges are preparing the ground for charging Bo.
Two days after Wang was charged, the report of Xi Jinping’s private conversations with Hu Deping was published.
While Xi spoke mostly about how to handle the problems facing him after he takes over the leadership, Xi did mention that he was not Bo’s ally. Bo’s case would be handled strictly according to Party discipline and the law.
This is very likely the first time Xi, or any other top leaders other than Wen Jiabao, have mentioned handling Bo according to the law. Xi is also probably the first one to distance himself from Bo since the scandal began.
No one outside the tall red walls of the CCP leadership compound of Zhongnanhai is likely to know for sure what happened in Beijing last week. The change in the tone toward Bo Xilai could be the result of a course Xi has charted, or it could be a reaction to developments. One thing is for sure, the play has just begun.
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Editor’s Note: When Chongqing’s former top cop, Wang Lijun, fled for his life to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu on Feb. 6, he set in motion a political storm that has not subsided. The battle behind the scenes turns on what stance officials take toward the persecution of Falun Gong. The faction with bloody hands—the officials former CCP head Jiang Zemin promoted in order to carry out the persecution—is seeking to avoid accountability for their crimes and to continue the campaign. Other officials are refusing to participate in the persecution any longer. Events present a clear choice to the officials and citizens of China, as well as people around the world: either support or oppose the persecution of Falun Gong. History will record the choice each person makes.
Click www.ept.ms/ccp-crisis to read about the most recent developments in the ongoing crisis within the Chinese communist regime. In this special topic, we provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation. Get the RSS feed. Who are the Major Players? 
