SINOGRAPH Wen versus Bo gets more
explosive By Francesco Sisci
BEIJING - It is certainly an
important story, and because of that, there is
more than one way to look at it. The long New York
Times feature about the businesses of the family
of China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao exploded like
a bombshell in Beijing, just as the government was
busy preparing for a historical Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) congress and the trial of former
Chongqing Party Chief, Bo Xilai, who was toppled
in the greatest political scandal since the fall
of Lin Biao in 1971.
It is not clear whether the
story and its timing was just a coincidence, more
or less unfortunate, or if it was instead an
artfully designed plan by any of the parties
involved in the scandal, in the congress or in
US-China bilateral relations. Even so, the
story played on all these
levels.
The details in the New York
Times came out at the same moment that the
government announced the expulsion of Bo, a
neo-Maoist and known archenemy of Wen Jiabao, from
his last position in parliament.
It
may have been just a coincidence, but the
publication of allegations about the Wen family's
business interests through an American newspaper
is bound to weaken the premier as the CCP prepares
for the trial of Bo, against whom Wen did battle.
Or the announcement of Bo's expulsion could have
been a ploy by the Chinese government to reduce
the impact of the expected attack against Wen.
In any case,
de facto - and especially if seen coupled with
an earlier report by Bloomberg on the businesses of
vice President Xi Jinping - the New York Times
article is important because it represents the first direct
and forceful intervention of the US media
in the Chinese political process, as
veteran China watcher Pierluigi Zanatta pointed out to
this correspondent.
The article reported with an
abundance of data that not only Wen's wife and son
but also his 90-year-old mother allegedly hold
fortunes ranging from hundreds of millions to
billions of dollars. Most money was accumulated
during Wen's tenure, according to the paper. The
story is not new - it was an open secret for years
- but the paper has provided a great amount of
detail in making its case.
Wen
was portrayed almost like a big moneymaker within
the state, a new kind of Chinese satrap who is
ready to push for the private interests of his
family.
On the other hand, the
newspaper did not mention Wen's commitment to
political reform nor the central role that the
prime minister has played in the battle against
Bo's neo-Maoists. These are known facts, which
perhaps would have given a different context to
Wen's alleged corruption. Conversely, since all in
China know about the dire confrontation between
the two, Bo's people could well use the
accusations against Wen to argue that Bo's
corruption case was not so special.
This
would not help to bring down the rule of the
Party, crowded with corrupt officials, as the US
story can suggest, as the Party has proved its
great resilience time and again. But it could dent
the attacks against Bo.
Bo
also wanted to bring China back to the principles
of Mao, cutting opportunities for private
companies and concentrating power and money in the
state. This strategy could have lead to a systemic
greater corruption within the Chinese state, given
the inefficiency of state-owned enterprises.
In
this case the story might help Bo's political
battle. In fact, in the evening, while the website
of the New York Times was blocked by China,
followers of Bo continued to circulate the
incriminating article on Weibo, the Chinese
Twitter.
This is the second major
attack by American newspapers against Chinese
leaders. In past weeks, Bloomberg news agency
published a report on the fortunes of the family
of Xi Jinping, the man who after November 8 is
likely to become party secretary and in March
should rise to the post of president of the
republic. Even then, it was a very detailed
reconstruction, and Beijing's reaction was to cut
off access to the article and block the service in
China.
In a country whose
political culture is shrouded in layers of
suspicion and conspiracy theory, people are
looking at who could have helped the two news
organization in their work. It is more difficult
in China than in Western countries to navigate the
jungle of papers and financial statements as well
public records without a guide or a hint as to
where to look. Therefore, some people in Beijing
believe it is likely that both the New York Times
and Bloomberg were coached or helped in their
research by men with an ax to grind against Xi and
Wen. It could be an indication that people close
to Bo are not yet ready to give up their fight.
Meanwhile, in the same hours,
the official Xinhua news agency listed a series of
serious charges against Bo Xilai, each of which
could carry the death penalty. Bo is accused of
complicity in the murder of Neil Heywood. Bo's
wife has been already sentenced to death with
reprieve for killing the English businessman. Bo
is also accused of having caused his former police
chief, Wang Lijun, to attempt to flee abroad -
stuff of high treason. (Wang has also been
sentenced). Then there is the matter of having
promoted and named officials in contravention of
the party rules, which can be more serious than
other accusations, and finally there is the charge
of having embezzled huge sums.
The
political fate of Bo is already sealed, even if we
do not yet know the date when the process will be
done. But the avalanche of serious accusations
suggests that the former head of Chongqing might
even be executed (the last violent political death
in China, ostensibly by accident, was that of Lin
Biao in 1971). Or it could be the premise for a
broad government campaign to purge all the last
allies of Bo, who can be suspected of being behind
the recent revelations.
As
the offensive against allegedly corrupt leaders
moves on to the next illustrious target, it could
affect even President Hu Jintao.
Meanwhile, two immediate
results are likely after this story. A minor one
could be about imposing new and stronger brakes
and limits on the activities of China's "red"
business aristocracy. The major result is that the
political battle around the next congress could be
increasingly red-hot.
Francesco
Sisci is a
columnist for the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore and
can be reached at fsisci@gmail.com
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