Last week's conviction of former Chinese political superstar Bo Xilai was riveting legal drama. The preceding trial featured stories of murder most foul, an unprecedented social media frenzy, and familial betrayal.
With a father who was one of Mao Zedong's comrades and an influential Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elder, Bo was one of the 'princelings' of the political elite.
Despite Bo's pedigree, he has been stripped of his personal freedom and political career. After being found guilty of taking US$3.2 million in bribes, a court in the eastern city of Jinan sentenced him to life in prison on Sunday.
The CCP-controlled press hailed the case as an exemplar of the rule of law in China and a victory for President Xi Jinping's fight against corruption.
The Bo verdict is actually neither.
The root cause of Bo's downfall was not corruption, but his challenge to the political order.
Like Icarus, Bo flew too high and earned the ire of those he could ill afford to displease.
During his time as communist party secretary of Chongqing, he mobilised mass support by channelling government funds into public infrastructure and social housing to the tune of billions of dollars. He also galvanised his popularity with high-profile anti-crime programs and campaigns to revive Mao-era 'red culture.'
Not only did these initiatives garner Bo too much personal support for Beijing's liking, but their egalitarian focus and Cultural Revolution-inspired overtones were at odds with the CCP's cautious market reforms. Equally, Bo's brash and capricious leadership style sat uneasily alongside the CCP's consensus-based decision making.
It was this clash with established powers and the CCP orthodoxy that ultimately led to Bo's fall from grace.
In other words, political power plays and ideological jostling were the lead characters in the Bo saga, with corruption relegated to a supporting role.
These deeper causes of Bo's demise are disconcerting: The Bo conviction is further confirmation that the CCP rules by means of the law rather than being constrained by the rule of law.
With the Maoist dictum, 'party policy is the soul of the law,' still holding sway, the legal system effectively operates as an extension of the communist party rather than a check on the power of government.
Notwithstanding Bo's probable guilt, the lesson from his conviction is not that justice has been done. It is that an independent legal system remains aspiration rather than reality in China.
Benjamin Herscovitch is a Beijing-based Policy Analyst at The Centre for Independent Studies.
Home > Commentary > Opinion > China’s Icarus sheds light on the limits of the law
China’s Icarus sheds light on the limits of the law
With a father who was one of Mao Zedong's comrades and an influential Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elder, Bo was one of the 'princelings' of the political elite.
Despite Bo's pedigree, he has been stripped of his personal freedom and political career. After being found guilty of taking US$3.2 million in bribes, a court in the eastern city of Jinan sentenced him to life in prison on Sunday.
The CCP-controlled press hailed the case as an exemplar of the rule of law in China and a victory for President Xi Jinping's fight against corruption.
The Bo verdict is actually neither.
The root cause of Bo's downfall was not corruption, but his challenge to the political order.
Like Icarus, Bo flew too high and earned the ire of those he could ill afford to displease.
During his time as communist party secretary of Chongqing, he mobilised mass support by channelling government funds into public infrastructure and social housing to the tune of billions of dollars. He also galvanised his popularity with high-profile anti-crime programs and campaigns to revive Mao-era 'red culture.'
Not only did these initiatives garner Bo too much personal support for Beijing's liking, but their egalitarian focus and Cultural Revolution-inspired overtones were at odds with the CCP's cautious market reforms. Equally, Bo's brash and capricious leadership style sat uneasily alongside the CCP's consensus-based decision making.
It was this clash with established powers and the CCP orthodoxy that ultimately led to Bo's fall from grace.
In other words, political power plays and ideological jostling were the lead characters in the Bo saga, with corruption relegated to a supporting role.
These deeper causes of Bo's demise are disconcerting: The Bo conviction is further confirmation that the CCP rules by means of the law rather than being constrained by the rule of law.
With the Maoist dictum, 'party policy is the soul of the law,' still holding sway, the legal system effectively operates as an extension of the communist party rather than a check on the power of government.
Notwithstanding Bo's probable guilt, the lesson from his conviction is not that justice has been done. It is that an independent legal system remains aspiration rather than reality in China.
Benjamin Herscovitch is a Beijing-based Policy Analyst at The Centre for Independent Studies.
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