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Chongqing Daily: Will Bo Xilai Still Be a Comrade?

On April 12, 2012, the Chinese Communist Party website reprinted an article from the official Chongqing Daily newspaper, which reported on a Chongqing Municipal Council meeting. At the meeting, Zhang Dejiang, the Chongqing Party Secretary, who is also Vice Premier of the State Council and a member of the Party’s Politburo, urged political allegiance to Hu Jintao. The article stated, “The meeting attendees agreed that Bo’s action (his involvement in the death of Neil Heywood) seriously violated the Party’s discipline and severely damaged the image of our Party and the country. It is very shocking.” That they did not mention the word "comrade" has been viewed as an indication that disciplinary action is anticipated. A day earlier, when reporting the Party’s decision to remove Bo from the Politburo and to start an investigation, Xinhua repeatedly addressed Bo as Comrade Bo Xilai (indicating he had not yet been expelled from the Party).

Sources:
Chongqing Daily reprinted at the Communist Party website, April 12, 2012
http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64093/64094/17632810.html
Xinhua, April 11, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2012-04/11/c_122962106.htm