发帖
雷达卡
These are interesting times in China. A senior Communist Partyofficial, Bo Xilai, is brought down – accused of offenses that include wire-tapping other party bosses, includingPresident Hu Jintao – while his wife is investigated for her alleged role inthe possible murder of a British businessman. Meanwhile, a blind human-rightsactivist escapes from illegal house arrest, finds refuge in the United States’ embassy in Beijing, and leaves the compound only afterclaims that Chinese authorities in his hometown had threatened his family.
Despite exhaustive press coverage of these events, it is remarkable howlittle we actually know. The British businessman’s body was allegedly cremated before anyautopsy was conducted. None of the luridtales about Bo’s wife have been proven. And the reasons for her husband’spolitical disgrace remain murky, to say the least.
Things always tend to get interesting in China before a National People’sCongress, where the Party’s next leaders are anointed.Leadership change in most democracies is a relatively transparent process; itfollows national elections. To be sure, even open democracies have their shareof opaque jockeying and deal-making in whatused to be called smoke-filled rooms. Thisis particularly true in East Asian countries, such as Japan.
But, in China,everything takes place out of sight. Because leaders cannot be ousted through elections, other means must befound to resolve political conflicts. Sometimes, that entails deliberate publicspectacles.
The disgrace of Bo, Chongqing’sformer Party leader, certainly falls intothis category. A handsome, charismatic populist born into the Party elite, Bo was knownas a tough official, whose methods in fighting organized crime – and others whogot in his way – were often unrestrained bylaw. Bo’s ex-police chief, who is said to have done the dirty work, embarrassedthe Party by fleeing to the USconsulate in Chengdu in February, after he
fell out with his boss.Despite Bo’s nostalgia for Maoist rhetoric,he is conspicuously wealthy. His son’s expensive lifestyle as a student at Oxford and Harvard hasbeen described in lavish detail in thepress.
In other words, Bo bore all the hallmarks of a gangster boss: corrupt, ruthless towards his enemies, contemptuous of the law, and yet moralistic in hisself-presentation. But the same could be said of most Party bosses in China. They allhave more money than can be explained by their official pay. Most have childrenstudying at expensive British or American universities.All behave as though they are above the laws that constrain normal citizens.
What was unusual about Bo was his open ambition. Chinese party bosses,like Japanese politicians – or, indeed, Mafiadons – are supposed to be discreet in theirappetite for power. Bo behaved more like an American politician. He liked tothrow his weight around in public. That was enough to annoy other party bosses.
Since factional rivalry inside the Party cannot be handled discreetly, some of Bo’s colleagues felt that hehad to go. The way that party bosses, in Chinano less than in Japan, get rid of irksome rivals is to bring them down throughpublic scandals, leaked to an obedient press, which then fans the flames.
The appearance of a wicked wife inChinese public scandals is a common phenomenon. When Mao Zedong purged his most senior Party boss, Liu Shaoqi,during the Cultural Revolution, Liu’s wife was paradedthrough the streets wearing ping-pong balls around her neck as a symbol ofwicked decadence and extravagance. After Mao himself died, his wife Jiang Qing wasarrested and presented as a Chinese Lady Macbeth.It is possible that the murder accusations against Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, arepart of such political theater.
In fact, Bo’s fall from grace involves not only his wife, but his entirefamily. This, too, is a Chinese tradition. The family must take responsibilityfor the crimes of one of its members. When that individual falls, so must they.On the other hand, when he is riding high, they benefit, as was the case withmany of Bo’s relatives and his wife, whose businesses thrived while he was inpower.
There has been a great deal of speculation about the consequences of Bo’sfall, and of the daring escape of the human-rights activist, Chen Guangcheng,after 18 months of house arrest. Will his flight to the US embassy hardenthe attitudes of China’sleaders? Will it force the USto get tougher on human rights in China? If so, what will follow fromthat?
Since Bo presented himself as a populist critic of modern Chinesecapitalism and an authoritarian promoter of Maoist ethics, his natural enemiesinside the Party leadership would seem to be the more “liberal” bosses, whofavor free-market capitalism and perhaps even some political reforms. Thecurrent premier, Wen Jiabao, would seem to be this faction’s leader. He hasmade speeches about the need for democratic reform, and has been openlycritical of Bo. Chen asked him to investigate abuses against him and hisfamily.
So, could the fall of Bo lead to a more open society, less hostile to dissident voices? It is possible that ChineseCommunists who favor more economic liberalism would also be more receptive to amore open society? But the opposite could also be true: the wider thedisparities in wealth, and the more people protest against economic inequality,the more the regime will crack down on dissidents.
Such repression is not meant to protectcommunism, let alone what little is left of Maoism. On the contrary, it ismeant to protect the Chinese Communist Party’s brand of capitalism. That may bewhy Bo had to be toppled, and certainly why dissidents like Chen, as well ashis family, have to suffer so much that refuge in a foreign embassy is theirfinal, desperate option.
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
京公网安备 11010802022788号
