The Sacking of Bo Xilai

In the upcoming year, the world's strongest powers (USA and China) will be receieving new leadership. China's president, Xi Jinping, will become the Communist Party's head leader by taking Hu Jintao's leadership position.

On March 15th, the party chief of the southwestern region of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, was removed from office. His removal shows a certain sign of change for China. Bo Xilai seemed to be destined for leadership in the nine-member standing committee of the Politburo. Despite the fact that Bo Xilai's ideas while in office seemed rather extremist (with links to cracking down the Chinese "mafia" and following of Maoist beliefs), Bo Xilai's removal proves to show that there is something wrong with the Chinese political system. Bo Xilai focused on "red" and "anti-mafia" campaigns to discredit his opposition, Mr. Wang Yang, his predecessor in the Chongquing region. Yang has, however, come out on top in the competition with his somewhat liberal beliefs. Xilai's downfall does not come as a shock, as recently, Chongqing's corrupt affairs have been aired out for the Chinese public and the American consulate to see. His removal from office shows that China is moving toward less corruption and taking punishment on those who are firsthand in the corrupt affairs. According to the article, Chinese officials will still be able to get away with corruption, if it is brought out the correct way (without weapons).

The irony of the situation is that just a day prior to the sacking of Xilai, China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, had said that without the upcoming reforms (removal of corrupt leaders), China may enter another "Cutural Revolution" phase.

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21550309

China's Prime Minister Bows Out

Wen Jiabao has entered his final year in the office of Prime Minister of China. As he recounts his past years in office, Jiabao warned in a two-hour speech to the National People's Congress of the new problems that China will be facing. He struggled to prove to the people of China that he had changed China for the better since the beginning of his term, so coming to terms with Jiabao's warnings will prove to be difficult for the Chinese people. Jiabao's position will be passed down to his deputy, Li Keqiang, and the presidential position will be passed to the current vice-president, Xi Jinping.

As Jiabao delivered his final state of the union address to the Chinese people and the NPC on March 5th, Jiabao took a moment to talk about the progress that his five-year term as a leading member of the Politburo has helped China. After his speech, the Chinese people discussed the progress that Jiabao and Jintao have made in China. Jintao has worked toward becoming an everyday man of the people. He has looked toward working for the Chinese people, by traveling all across China to gain a better understanding of the way the everyday Chinese man lives. In this effort, Jiabao has believed that building a "harmonious society" in China is the central goal. However, the Chinese people believe that Jiabao's pledge to create a harmonious China has actually not been working over the years. Though China's growth rates have been expanding by double digits compared to any other country in the world, only part of China's population is experiencing the wealth. The gap between the rich and the poor of Chinese society only continues to expand and unrest among the disadvantaged continues to grow. The article showed the number of dissenting people is slowing expanding in China, to a point where the people have become uneasy about their living standards and their economic statuses. They are concerned about the growing gap and this has led to less confidence in the government of China.

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21549991