Veteran and heir

Bo Yibo's son may become China's leader

Bo Yibo, a 98-year-old veteran of the Chinese Communist Party leadership, died in Beijing on Monday evening. The official Xinhua News Agency called him "a great fighter for communism, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary and the leader of the CPC's economic work."

Bo Yibo joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1925 at the age of 17, and during the years of the war with the Japanese and civil strife, he proved himself to be a decisive organizer and master of conspiracy. After the Communist victory in 1949, Bo became Minister of Finance, then took over the post of Deputy Prime Minister. During the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976), he was repressed and spent ten years in prison. His six children also suffered - some ended up in prison, and others were sent to the village for re-education. The wife of a revolutionary was beaten to death by the Red Guards.

When Bo Yibo was rehabilitated in 1978, he was already 70 years old. He became an ally of the “reform architect” Deng Xiaoping, and in the 1980s and 1990s, Bo Yibo’s behind-the-scenes influence reached its apogee. Chief researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Lev Delyusin noted to Vremya Novostei that during that period Bo Yibo became “one of the main veterans with whom Chinese leaders consulted about personnel appointments and political problems.” During the tragic events of June 1989, Bo Yibo took a tough stand and supported Deng Xiaoping's decision to suppress anti-government demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. According to VN’s interlocutor, Bo Yibo can be described as a “moderate reformer-revolutionary.”

In the early 90s, Deng Xiaoping left the political scene, but Bo Yibo continued to give advice to the new leaders of the country - Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. According to Lev Delyusin, this political phenomenon will not happen again. The country's current leaders, including the retired Jiang Zemin, after their resignation will no longer be able to play the same role that the Chinese party elders played at the end of the 20th century.

According to unofficial information, in the 1990s, Bo Yibo, in exchange for supporting Jiang Zemin's policies, achieved a career boost for his son Bo Xilai. The veteran helped Jiang get rid of influential political opponents and prevented behind-the-scenes intrigues against Jiang Zemin. For this, before leaving power, Jiang promoted Bo Xilai to the top - in 2001 he became the governor of Liaoning Province, and in 2002 he was elected a member of the CPC Central Committee. Already under the new leader Hu Jintao in 2004, the revolutionary’s son went to work in Beijing and headed the Ministry of Commerce. Experts consider 56-year-old Bo Xilai one of the most promising politicians in the Middle Kingdom. He is tipped for the post of Deputy Prime Minister, some even call him one of the possible successors to Hu Jintao as Secretary General of the CPC Central Committee in 2012.

Alexander LOMANOV