The former powerful party secretary in Chongqing fell from grace last year amid scandals. He is currently under arrest but formal charges have not yet been laid against him. He refuses to answer questions from the authorities and has had to be force-fed. He has not however been tortured.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Bo Xilai, the disgraced former party boss in Chongqing, is refusing to eat. So far, he has not yet been formally charged, and is not cooperating with the authorities. Popular among many Chinese, the former senior party boss is on his second hunger strike. Hospitalised as a result of his weakened conditions, he was force-fed but not tortured. Sources close to the family say that he will not appear in court before next month's National People's Congress.

Until last year, Bo was seen as a rising star in China's Communist Party. Leader of its 'New Left' (neo-Maoist) wing, in his 45 million megalopolis of Chongqing he had launched a series of campaigns inspired by the Great Helmsman, like zero tolerance of organised crime and the triads. Local residents loved his measures, even if they were closer to 'summary justice' than the rule of law.

He fell from grace after he, his wife Gu Kailai and the local police chief, Wang Lijun, broke the same law. Likely with Bo's protection, Gu and Wang had a British businessman killed.

Tried and convicted by Chinese court, the two were sentenced respectively to death (suspended) and 15 years in prison.

Although not personally implicated in the case, Bo was first suspended and then expelled from the party. Eventually, he too was arrested.

His fall from grace is the greatest scandal in recent Chinese political history, linked, according to many analysts, to the power struggle that led to Xi Jinping's rise to power.

When people took to the streets to protest his arrest, they were met by police but were easily dispersed without the use of force.

 

• china
• bo
• xilai
• hunger
• strike
• trial
• corruption