The whole spectacular drama adds a new dimension to
what we know as Beijing opera. How do you solve a massive political
scandal at the highest spheres of the Chinese Communist Party while at
the same time saving the Party?
Some lead characters had to be
fed to the masses, while others had to be propped up as heroes/servers
of the people until 2022. And all this while the Party still had not set
the date -- sometime next October -- for its 10-yearly lavish leadership
liturgy, when the next generation of Chinese leaders is enthroned as the
guiding lights of the next superpower.
And it's hardly the last act. Imagine the whole plot choreographed in parallel sequences by Francis Ford Coppola -- Godfather-style.
It took a mere eight hours for the prosecution to show that Gu did murder British businessman Neil Heywood on November 15, 2011. Heywood, who was always impeccably dressed, a fluent Mandarin speaker, and who drove a Jaguar with a 007 number plate, had been doing dodgy business with Bo and Gu for a long time. He helped her buy hot property in Hong Kong. Yet Gu may have decided to dial M for murder when Heywood demanded a higher cut for a long-running money laundering operation that may have stretched to $350m.
Later, in the requisite gory titbit, a court official would disclose
that Gu herself poured cyanide down Heywood's throat after he had become
drunk and vomited in a hotel room in Chongqing.
Meet the (invisible) fallen hero
Then take a sweeping panoramic shot over Beidaihe -- a resort near Beijing which Mao called his "red citadel" -- where a secret conclave is busy scripting the ascension of the first generation of party members formed after the death of the Great Helmsman. Expect a lot of tough guys letting off steam -- with multiple factions positioned for as much of a power grab as possible; yet at the end, they must sell the idea of a smooth transition.
As to what really happened, it's up to a screenwriter's fancy. Building up on the drama, the simultaneous "trial of the century" and the secret conclave -- the reconstruction of the perfect murder and the construction of a political/economic future -- were maddeningly mysterious and inaccessible to mere mortals.
Trying to craft a narrative to make sense, flashbacks would show
Heywood's body found in the hotel room; the murky story of Chongqing
police chief Wang Lijun showing up at the US Consulate 170 miles away in
Chengdu and telling startled US officials about the murder; the British
Embassy urging local authorities to reopen the case; Wang "disappeared"
by Chinese security; Bo Xilai fired and then suspended from the Party;
Gu under investigation; and the scene set for the "trial of the
century."
Our movie would also show that essentially the trial boiled down to a
deal. Gu -- a former lawyer -- "confessed" in a carefully scripted
admission and won't be executed for lack of crucial evidence, while the
Party, to its relief, was released from suspended animation. Yes,
because in this apparent whodunit the whole plot was never about the
Black Spider -- but about the (invisible) male lead/fallen hero Bo Xilai.
Here is the "approved" official account, distributed by Xinhua.
It's all that the world, who would have loved to be inside that court,
will be allowed to know. The name "Bo Xilai" is so explosive that it
does not appear even once.
This means any discussion of
concentric levels of Party-sanctioned (or tolerated) corruption was
simply erased. That also suggests that Bo -- although disgraced -- won't
be criminally prosecuted. He knows too much and still has support among
powerful Party circles; if he opened his mouth he could bring the whole
house down.
Shakespeare does Chongqin
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