Moving to Chongqing to become its Party Chief was clearly a step up the political ladder for Bo Xilai in 2007, but one figures it must have been bittersweet for him to leave Beijing, where -- judging by this video -- he was beloved by a large number of supporters.
The above -- Bo's final speech as the Minister of Commerce -- was posted to YouTube in December 2013, but just recently tweeted out by Helen Gao. Bo would move down south to begin his stint as a member of the Central Politburo, tabbed for sure elevation into the Standing Committee... until, that is, his career and his life veered off track thanks to his wife, Gu Kailai, his former police chief, Wang Lijun, and Neil Heywood, who just had to get himself murdered.
This is weird and tragic rolled up in one. Watch as, at the 20-second mark, a young boy in red starts galloping alongside an ambulance that also happens to be accelerating. And then watch, at the 24-second mark, as the ambulance judders to a stop.
A 41-year-old man identified as surnamed Li stabbed and killed four people on a bus on Sunday night in Chengdu, injuring 11 others. Officers on the scene, after firing warning shots, fired and Li and wounded him.
The trial of Bo Xilai lasted three days longer than it was supposed to, but it's all over now except for the sentencing. Until then, here are some links to bring you up to speed.
Bo Xilai says there was love between his wife, Gu Kailai, and Wang Lijun, his former police chief -- the man who would betray him, just as she did, in her own way.
For those who just can’t get enough of the Bo family saga, China Navis has a fairly extensive collection of photos of Bo Guagua — son of Xilai and Gu Kailai — both as a young child in China and growing up overseas.
A lot of these photos you’ve already seen, like the one in which he and his friends pretend to pee on a metal gate, and his graduation photos from Harvard, but others, perhaps not. Take a look at this sampling:
Chinese American angel investor and Sina Weibo celebrity Charles Xue (a.k.a. Xue Manzi, with more than 12 million followers) has been detained in Beijing for "suspected involvement in prostitution," China News reported on Sunday.
On August 23, off the tip from a local resident, Chaoyang District police captured Xue along with a 22-year-old woman from Henan province in a residential compound, according to the official weibo of Beijing Public Security Office:
A big thank you to everyone who attended Chug-Off for Charity at Great Leap Brewing on Saturday. We raised 5,000 RMB for Magic Hospital, which will continue its excellent work providing happiness to sick, orphaned, and neglected children in Beijing.
The tournament featured 16 teams, but unfortunately we could only have one winner. Congratulations to Go on the Pikies, consisting of Colin (a Dubliner visiting from London) and Tiggi (from Leeds, the manager of Paddy O’Shea’s).
We're going to have a full recap of Saturday's Chug-Off for Charity at Great Leap Brewing in the morning, but for now, just watch this ridiculous, jaw-dropping performance from Colin of Go on the Pikies in the semifinals of our 16-team tournament. The crowd's reaction says it all: a moment of stunned silence followed by interjections of appreciation and jubilee as we process what we just witnessed.
