Bo Xilai kicked out of China's Communist Party
Disgraced politician Bo Xilai has been formally expelled from China's Communist Party, almost one year after the murder of a British businessman sent his political ascent into a tailspin.
Beijing
Chinese leaders ended a key closed-door conclave on Sunday with a decision to formally expel disgraced politician聽Bo聽Xilai聽from the聽Communist Party, in a meeting that also promoted two senior military men and approved the party constitution's amendment.
The secretive four-day meeting of 365 senior party officials ratified an earlier decision to expel聽Bo, former Chongqing party聽boss, as well as聽Liu Zhijun, one-time railway minister, sacked last year for "serious disciplinary violations," state news agency Xinhua said.
Bo聽and Liu can now be expected to face criminal charges and a trial.
The party plenum comes just days before the opening of a聽congress聽in Beijing on Nov. 8 that will usher in a generational leadership change, which has been overshadowed by a scandal with聽Bo, who had once been a contender for top office himself.
The government accused聽Bo聽in September of corruption and of bending the law to hush up his wife's murder of a British businessman. While she has since been jailed,聽Bo聽has yet to be formally charged.
Liu was fired early last year over corruption charges. His reputation was further marred after a train crash in China聽a few months later killed 40 people. Although the accident happened after Liu's dismissal, the government said he was primarily responsible as safety standards at the rail ministry had slipped under his watch.
Xinhua provided no other details of either case, in a report full of turgid Communist terminology designed to curtain-raise the聽congress, at which President聽Hu Jintao聽will hand over his party duties to anointed successorXi聽Jinping.
Top military appointments
Another announcement from the plenum was the appointments of two new chairmen to the party's powerful Central Military Commission that oversees the People's聽Liberation Army聽and聽China's rapid defence modernisation efforts.
Former air force commander聽Xu Qiliang聽and Fan聽Changlong, the head of the important聽Jinan聽military region which oversees large parts of聽eastern China, will join that body, Xinhua said. Sources had told Reuters that Xu had been tipped to do so.
The plenum also approved an amendment to the party charter, Xinhua said.
It did not identify the change, but there has been speculation the party may strip out mention of the ideology of late paramount leader聽Mao Zedong, known as "Mao Zedong Thought."
The plenum communique did not mention Mao, marking at least the third time the party has subtly dropped references to Mao since October, a move that was seen by some as sending a signal about the party's intent on reform.
In the past five years the party has "withstood the trials of numerous difficulties and risks," but has managed to maintain stable and relatively fast economic growth and rising living standards, the statement said.
The official report on the meeting otherwise shed little light on what of substance was discussed, including possible preparations for the long-expected succession and prospects for economic growth, which slowed a little in the third quarter.
Plenums are annual gatherings of the聽Central Committee, the largest of the party's top decision-making bodies, to approve broad decisions on the direction of government policy.
In聽China, power resides in the party elite and meetings of the聽Central Committee聽also offer chances for provincial chieftains to make known their policies and press for promotion.
The blueprint from the plenum will be presented to parliament for formal approval in March.