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Bo Xilai

Bo Xilai

1949

Nationality
People's Republic of China
Occupation
politician

Bo Xilai (Chinese: 薄熙来; pinyin: Bó Xīlái; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges.

Incarceration history

Facilities

  1. Qincheng Prison
    Dates unknown

Biography

Bo Xilai (Chinese: 薄熙来; pinyin: Bó Xīlái; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then Governor of Liaoning. From 2004 to 2007, he served as Minister of Commerce. Between 2007 and 2012, he served as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Party Secretary of Chongqing, a direct-administered municipality under the central government. The son of former Chinese Vice Premier Bo Yibo, he was regarded as a princeling but cultivated a casual and charismatic public image, marking a notable departure from Chinese political convention. In Chongqing, Bo increased spending on welfare programs and maintained consistent double-digit GDP growth, while launching a crackdown on organized crime and promoting Cultural Revolution–style "red culture." His "Chongqing model" gained popularity among the Chinese New Left, composed of both Maoists and social democrats disillusioned with the country's opening up policy and increasing economic inequality. However, his lawless campaigns, rising personality cult, and the dissonance between his family life and egalitarian rhetoric made him a controversial figure. Bo was considered a likely candidate for promotion to the CCP Politburo Standing Committee at the 18th Party Congress in 2012. However, his political fortunes came to an abrupt end following the Wang Lijun incident, in which his top lieutenant and police chief sought asylum at the American consulate in Chengdu. Wang claimed to have information about the involvement of Bo's wife Gu Kailai in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, a confidant of the Bo family. In the fallout, Bo was stripped of his positions and expelled from the party. In 2013, Bo was found guilty of corruption, stripped of all his assets and sentenced to life imprisonment at Qincheng Prison.

Related people

Same nationality and era where possible; falls back to shared nationality or era.

  • Bao Tong
    Bao Tong
    1932–2022People's Republic of China

    Bao Tong (Chinese: 鲍彤; 5 November 1932 – 9 November 2022) was a Chinese writer and activist.

  • Arkin Mahmud
    1964People's Republic of China
  • Gu Kailai
    1958People's Republic of China

    Gu Kailai (born 15 November 1958) is a Chinese former lawyer and businesswoman.

  • Gao Zhisheng
    Gao Zhisheng
    1964People's Republic of China

    Gao Zhisheng (born 20 April 1964) is a Chinese human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting human rights abuses in China.

  • Adel Abdulhehim
    1974People's Republic of China

    Adel Abdulhehim or Adel Abdul Hakim is a citizen of the People's Republic of China from the Uighur ethnic group.

  • Ahmad Tourson
    1971People's Republic of China

    Ahmad Tourson or Ahmad Abdulahad, is a Uyghur refugee unlawfully detained for more than seven years in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.

External references