BEIJING - Chinese politician Bo Xilai, once a rising star, has been stripped of his elite Communist Party post and his wife is being investigated for the murder of a British national, state media said.
The shock announcements shed some light on a mysterious political scandal involving Bo and a reported attempt by his former righthand man to defect to the United States.
Analysts say the rare, public scandal has exposed deep rifts within the ruling party ahead of a key, once-in-a-decade leadership transition due to take place later this year.
The 62-year-old's troubles started in February when Wang Lijun, his former police chief, fled to a US consulate and reportedly asked for asylum.
The scandal remained shrouded in mystery until news emerged late last month that London had asked China to reinvestigate the death of a British national in Chongqing in November amid rumours it might be linked to Bo's family.
On Tuesday, in a second brief dispatch, Xinhua said police had reopened a probe into the death of Neil Heywood after finding evidence Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, may have been involved in his murder.
| Tracing the fall of Bo Xilai: The people involved Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: AFP, Reuters, Internet) | ||||
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  | |
请阅读更多我的博客文章>>>
选择“Disable on www.wenxuecity.com”
选择“don't run on pages on this domain”
