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.

RIVERS GO, THOUGH JIANG ZEMIN DOES NOT (THEY SAY)

RUMORS 

SWIRL 

AROUND 

CHINESE EX-PRESIDENT 

JIANG ZEMIN 

FORMER CHINESE PRESIDENT 

& CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY 

GENERAL SECRETARY 

JIANG ZEMIN 

at the time of the 16th Party Congress 

November 2002 

the last one over which Jiang presided as 

General Secretary 

When he failed to appear for the celebration of the ninetieth anniversary of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), July 1 (see here), rumors that Jiang was dead or dying spread throughout the Chinese blogosphere, and the censors went to work.  "Jiang" disappeared as a search term; "jiang" happens to mean "river" or "rivers" as well as the former president's last name.  A contest began to invent ever more ingenious ways of circumventing the censorship; a formal announcement was made that the rumors were wrong. 

It was an interesting indication that either Jiang Zemin, installed as the official top leader after Tiananmen (with Deng Xiaoping still very much on the scene at the time), has meant more to at least a part of the populace then might have been guessed, or that a hunger exists to know more of what is happening to the rulers of their country. 

BACK TO THE GREAT HALL AGAIN: THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE, BEIJING

BACK TO

THE GREAT HALL

OF THE PEOPLE

AGAIN

DELEGATES TO THE

16TH CONGRESS OF THE

CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

FORM UP TO HAVE THEIR

PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN

IN FRONT OF THE GREAT HALL

OF THE PEOPLE, BEIJING, NOVEMBER 2002

WATCH THIS FACE: BO XILAI

WATCH THIS FACE 

BO XILAI 

PHOTOGRAPHED 

AT THE 16TH PARTY CONGRESS 

McClatchy Newspapers today ran an article on Chongqing, China's war-time capital, which gave a prominent place to that municipality's party secretary, Bo Xilai (above). 

More Bo Xilai here; Bo Yibo, the father, here (with details about the son) 

THE SEATS OF POWER, CHINESE STYLE

THE SEATS OF POWER
CHINESE STYLE

One of a Series 

TIANJIN RULING DUO 

Zhang Lichang (left), then Tianjin Party Secretary, and Li Shenglin (right), then Tianjin Mayor, at the 16th Congress of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, November 2002.