BO YIBO b. February 17, 1908

BO YIBO

February 17, 1908-January 15, 2007

BO YIBO

(2nd from right) at the 16th Congress

of the Chinese Communist Party, November 2002

The members of the Presidium of the 16th Congress pictured are (seated left to right), ZENG Qinghong, WAN Li, SONG Ping, BO Yibo, and SONG Jian.

The 16th Congress was the last one attended by Bo Yibo, a former Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China and one of the Eight Immortals of the Chinese Communist Party. Bo was by this time ninety-four years old.

Also attending the Congress in a leadership position was his son, Bo Xilai, then the governor of Liaoning (see here and here) and now the Party Secretary of Chongqing. In recent years, Bo Xilai has been widely seen as campaigning for one of the (currently) nine seats on the Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the inner sanctum of power in the PRC. His campaign, as Reuters has detailed it, consists of "a high profile war on crime, economic policies to boost Chongqing and a nostalgic Communist revival to win over support from the conservative old guard."

Recently, his efforts seem in danger of being derailed. Some details here and here and here; more as the story unfolds in the run-up to the 18th Party Congress, due this fall.