One year after Chongqing’s police chief set off China’s biggest scandal in decades, the megacity has seen revelations of torture and corruption but little action on alleged abuses during the reign of disgraced leader Bo Xilai.
Symbols of Bo’s time in power have been erased from the city he ruled as Communist Party chief, but media reports on his wrongdoings say little of his links with leaders of the party in which he was once a rising star.
As Chongqing boss and member of the elite Politburo, Bo stood out for his suave and open demeanour, seen as refreshing among China’s rigid leadership. But his signature ideological and anti-mafia campaigns drew both hero-worship and accusations of serious abuses.
The gang crackdown saw thousands of people arrested and several high-profile executions, while his “Sing Red” Maoist revivalism saw stadiums packed out for patriotic concerts and officials sent to work in the countryside, raising memories of the disastrous Cultural Revolution.
