Bo Xilai, one of China’s highest-flying Communist party officials and contender for its top leadership, has been purged in the most momentous political upheaval in the country in two decades.
A member of the 25-member Communist party politburo and the powerful “princeling” son of a revolutionary hero, Mr Bo has been embroiled in a political scandal since early last month, when his handpicked police chief attempted to defect to the US, alleging that Mr Bo was trying to have him killed.
Mr Bo’s dismissal sent shockwaves through the nation yesterday and raised fears that widening rifts among increasingly entrenched factions could spill over into a wider political crisis.