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    April 10, 2012

Bo Xilai Removed from Top Ranks of China's Communist Party

   VOA News
   Bo Xilai walks past deserted seats after a plenary session of the
   National People's Congress in Beijing
   Photo: AP
   Bo Xilai walks past deserted seats after a plenary session of the
   National People's Congress in Beijing, China, March 9, 2012.

   China's Communist Party has suspended charismatic politician Bo Xilai
   from its top ranks -- the latest development in a political scandal
   involving him and his family.
   Chinese state media reported late Tuesday that Bo was suspended from
   the party's 25-member Politburo and its 300-member Central Committee on
   suspicion of "serious disciplinary violations."
   This is the first time a sitting Politburo member has been removed
   since 2007, when Shanghai Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu was
   replaced.
   The official Xinhua news agency also said Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, is
   under investigation in the suspected murder of British businessman Neil
   Heywood, who was close to Bo's family.
   Bo was removed from his post as Communist Party leader of the
   southwestern city of Chongqing last month, after his longtime police
   chief, Wang Lijun, fled to a U.S. consulate reportedly to seek asylum.
   Bo was once considered a contender for a leadership post in the
   all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
   Son of one of the founders of the communist China, Bo gained prominence
   when he and police chief Wang launched a crackdown on corruption in
   Chongqing, leading to the arrests and convictions of many.

   He also began a so-called revival of "red" cultural themes and slogans
   from the era of Chairman Mao Zedong.

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