MCLC: Bo Xilai admits failures

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Bo Xilai admits failure
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Source: NYT 
(3/9/12):http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/world/asia/bo-xilai-an-ambitious
-chinese-party-chief-admits-failure.html

An Ambitious Chinese Party Chief Admits His Failure to Oversee an Aide
By MICHAEL WINES 

BEIJING ‹ Jockeying to salvage his political career, the embattled
Communist Party chief of Chongqing championed his success in running the
central Chinese metropolis on Friday, even as he admitted failing to
supervise a trusted aide who recently fled to an American consulate,
causing a national sensation.

The public concession of error by the party official, Bo Xilai,
nevertheless bolstered speculation that his chances were slim to join the
top ranks of the Chinese leadership during a change of power this year.

Speaking at a news conference during the annual meeting of China¹s
handpicked legislature, the National People¹s Congress, Mr. Bo said he had
³neglected my oversight duties² in the case of his aide, Wang Lijun. As
Chongqing¹s police chief, Mr. Wang ran a sweeping anticrime crackdown
three years ago, which led to thousands of arrests and destroyed some of
the city¹s wealthiest business executives.

The campaign propelled Mr. Bo¹s thinly veiled crusade to win a seat on the
Standing Committee of the Politburo, the nine-member committee that
effectively runs China. Seven of the nine members will be replaced at a
party conference this fall.

But Mr. Wang rocked that transition, and dealt a blow to Mr. Bo¹s
ambitions, by seeking refuge last month in the United States Consulate in
Chengdu, about 210 miles from Chongqing, after coming under scrutiny in a
corruption inquiry. He left the consulate after spending one night there
and was taken by security officials to Beijing, where he remains under
investigation.

The scandal has emboldened Mr. Bo¹s many critics, some of whom are calling
the crackdown an out-of-control assault on criminals and political enemies
alike.

Mr. Bo¹s admission on Friday reinforces accounts by government insiders
who say he had earlier delivered a similar apology to the Politburo and
offered to resign, although Mr. Bo on Friday called reports of that offer
³totally imaginary.²

The controversy over his future has added a measure of drama to the
normally bland annual meetings of the Congress. But Mr. Bo asserted ‹
perhaps unconvincingly ‹ that climbing to the top of China¹s leadership
ladder had rarely crossed his mind.

³Speaking from the heart, I¹ve never associated myself with anything
specific about the 18th Congress,² he said, referring to the Communist
Party meeting this fall that will ratify the changes in leadership.

Inside a packed room at the Great Hall of the People, Mr. Bo mounted a
risky defense of his anticrime campaign, saying that Chongqing was a city
run according to the law and that the crackdown was necessary both to
protect citizens and create a better business environment.

³On this issue, shall we pretend to be deaf, or shall we be responsible to
the people?² the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Mr. Bo as saying. ³We
chose the latter.²

He also displayed a bit of the flashy populism that has won the loyalty of
many Chongqing citizens but has annoyed other leaders, proclaiming that
China¹s Gini coefficient ‹ a yardstick for the gap between the rich and
poor ‹ had reached 0.46, a level some social scientists would call
alarming. On the Gini scale, zero represents complete equality, while 1
indicates a society in which one person controls all the wealth.

Reducing the wealth disparity is a major task for Chongqing¹s government,
he said, adding: ³If only a few people are rich, then we are capitalists.
We¹ve failed.²

But in discussing Mr. Wang, the normally effusive and self-confident Mr.
Bo chose his words with care, relying on a sheet of paper in his hand for
talking points.

Mr. Bo called the inquiry into Mr. Wang an isolated incident and said the
results of an investigation ³by the relevant central agencies² would be
made public, Reuters reported. He added that Mr. Wang¹s flight to the
American Consulate in Chengdu took him by surprise.

³I truly never expected this to happen,² Mr. Bo was quoted as saying. ³I
felt it was extremely sudden.²