Bo Xilai and China’s transition of power

The corruption scandal involving a regional boss has preoccupied China in the months before its once-in-a-decade transition of power.

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Ousted from the party

China’s ruling Communist Party expelled the once-powerful political leader Bo Xilai on Sept. 28, accusing him of corruption and moral crimes and ending months of rampant rumors and signs of debate within the country’s leadership over his fate. In a sign of how intertwined Bo's future is with the party's power transition, officials at the same time scheduled China’s once-a-decade switch of top leaders for Nov. 8.

Andy Wong / AP

Once a rising star

Bo, here with his wife, Gu Kailai, was a leader of a growing leftist, Maoist movement. As recently as this month, his supporters were turning out in force at anti-Japanese riots, carrying banners arguing for Bo’s cause, as well as portraits of Mao Zedong.

/ Kyodo News via AP

The killing of a foreigner

The death of British businessman Neil Heywood, a longtime associate of Bo and of his wife, prompted an investigation. Gu, a daughter of the Chinese Communist Party elite, was charged with murdering Heywood.

/ Reuters

Convicted

In a dramatic trial on Aug. 9, prosecutors said Gu poisoned Heywood because she believed he had threatened her son, who he had helped get into a British boarding school. On Aug. 20, Gu, seen in this CCTV video still, was convicted and given a suspended death sentence. In a very short piece of footage on state-run television, Gu was shown in court saying, “I feel the verdict is fair and just. It reflects comprehensively the special respect of our court to the law, reality and especially to life.”

/ AFP/Getty Images

Coverup

A Chinese court jailed ex-police chief Wang Lijun for 15 years on Sept. 24 after finding him guilty on four charges, including seeking to conceal Heywood's murder.

/ Reuters

On the ascent?

The long-running Bo case raised questions about the makeup of the senior Chinese officials handling the once-in-a-decade turnover of power. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta shakes hands in September with China's Vice President Xi Jinping, widely expected to take China's party leadership in November.

Larry Downing / Reuters

The current boss

Chinese President Hu Jintao, the nation's paramount leader for a decade, is widely expected to step down from China’s Communist Party leadership in November. On Jan. 19, 2011, Hu shook hands with Sasha Obama before the start of a White House reception as the rest of the first family looks on.

Pete Souza / White House

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