1. US Media Coverage of the Bo Xilai Scandal
Alice Wu

2. Sources & Dates
• The Washington Post, New York Times, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal,
Reuters
• Date Range: March - May 2012
• Number of Articles: 15
• News Cycle
Early-mid March: Ousting of Bo
Late March - Early April: Bo’s wife murder allegations
April - May: Implications for CCP, Bo’s son “defends himself”

4. Fall of Bo Xilai
14 Nov: Death of British businessman Neil Heywood
6-8 Feb: Chongqing police chief Wang flees to the US consulate in Chengdu, near Chongqing. Many believe he
went there to seek asylum. He spends the night at the consulate, which is surrounded by Chinese police.The police
chief is persuaded to leave the consulate after Chongqing's mayor rushes to the scene to talk to him. Mr Wang
emerges into the waiting arms of the law and then disappears.The Chongqing government says that because of
over-work Mr Wang is suffering from stress and is now receiving "holiday-style medical treatment". In fact, he is
under investigation and in detention.
5-14 Mar: Bo Xilai takes his seat at China's annual parliamentary session in Beijing. He keeps an unusually low
profile amid rumours that Mr Wang's actions have tarnished his chances of promotion to the party's politburo
Standing Committee later this year.
15 Mar: China announces that Bo Xilai has been removed from his post as party chief in Chongqing. Officials
confirm that this is because of the Wang Lijun incident. He disappears from public view.
26 Mar: UK government confirms it has asked China to re-examine Neil Heywood's death.
10 Apr: China announces that Bo Xilai has been stripped of his Communist Party posts and that his wife, Gu Kailai,
and an orderly are being investigated in connection with Mr Heywood's death.
25 Apr: Bo Xilai's son, Bo Guagua, writes an open letter to his university, Harvard. He insists he does not live an
extravagant life and says his education has been funded by scholarships and his mother's earnings as a lawyer. He
says he has no comment to make about the investigation

5. Representations of CCP
• Authoritarian, Soviet comparisons, corrupt,
fragile government.
• Soviet Comparisons/Outdated:
“the opaque, Leninist-style Communist Party” (WP, 3/16/2012)
“rooted in a doctrine of intense secrecy and discipline devised by Vladimir
Lenin nearly a century ago” (WP, 3/28/1012)
“Bo Xilai Revelations Are Chinese "Glasnost” (Op-ed HP, 4/24/2012)
• Losing Legitimacy:
“brittle system” (NYT 4/7/2012)
“deep and delegitimizing impact on China” (NYT, 4/13/2012)
“China puts on show of
might over Bo Xilai’s • Corruption:
military allies” “Bo Xilai and China’s Corrupt Secrets” , “dark side of China’s economic
Washington Post, 4/12/2012
rise” (HP, 4/20/2012)
“the country's cloak-and-dagger leadership” (WP, 4/20/2012)

6. Representations of Bo Xilai
• ambitious, ruthless, neo-Maoist,
out of control
• Ruthless
“Mr. Bo’s ruthlessness stood out” (NYT, 5/6/2012)
• Maoist/Populist
“His statist policies and promotion of a retro-Maoist
culture”, “ his populist attitude and flamboyant
personality”, “neo-Maoist” (NYT, 4/6/2012)
• Ambitious:
“Mr. Bo’s ambition and abrasive style” (NYT, 4/7/2012) “In Rise and Fall of China’s Bo
“his flair for self-promotion and willingness to deviate Xilai, an Arc of Ruthlessness”
from party consensus.”
New York Times, 5/6/2012
(HP, 4/10/2012)

7. Representation of Gu Kailai
• scheming, crazy, powerful and ambitious
“Jackie Kennedy of China”
Wall Street Journal, 4/9/2012
• Accused:
of murder of a British businessman, rumors of an affair and financial disputes, cover-
up plot
• Crazy:
“dressed up shortly afterwards as a military commander and gave a rambling speech
to police officials”
“increasingly neurotic” (WSJ, 4/9/2012)
• Ambitious and Powerful:
“She had the charisma and determination rivaled that of her husband” (NYT,
4/12/2012)
“long known for her own zealous ambition” (HP, 5/6/2012)
“She said to me 'You cross me - never come to China, you'll never get out of
jail'.” (Reuters, 5/1/2012)

8. Representation of Bo’s Son
• privileged and spoiled
“After a pampered childhood in the walled compounds
of the Chinese capital, he was sent off for schooling in
England, where he developed a reputation as an
academically indifferent bon vivant with a
weakness for European sports cars, first-class air
travel, equestrian sports and the tango.” (NYT,
4/16/2012)
“Mr. Bo became known for his “professional socializing”
“Apparently responding to criticism of photos posted
online of him attending parties and posing with school
friends, Bo said he participated in normal social events
while at Oxford, partly as a way to ‘broaden my “Son’s Parties and Privilege
perspective.’” (HP, 4/25/2012)
Aggravate Fall of Elite
Drives a Porsche and not a Ferrari (NYT, 4/25/2012, Chinese Family”
New York Times, 4/16/2012
4/30/2012)

9. Truth? Conspiracy? Does it matter?
• Vast rumor mill
• Lack of transparency
• No one really knows what’s going on
• Possible smear campaign on Bo?
“They are making Bo the poster child of corruption and crime.” (NYT, 4/13/2012)

10. Conclusion
• General feeling of distrust of both government and actors.
• Portrays Chinese government outdated, especially the Washington Post, in
comparison to Soviet Union (Leninist, Glastnost)
• Bo Xilai as a ruthless, ambitious, corrupt, and out of control.
• Gu portrayed similarly but with added mental instability.
• Son is portrayed as spoiled, privileged and skepticism about his academic validity.