Sichuan Politics in the Post

The Washington Post had an interesting piece on Bo Xilai, senior Party member in the Chongqing municipal government, who traveled recently to Beijing for the National Party Congress.  Bo was key in the recent corruption crackdown both in the government and in the business community.   The Post's authors are skeptical that this official will be able to rise to the top rank of Premier, but maintain that he is a top candidate for a position in the influential standing committee.  The article also goes into his life and background, and describes the government's preparation for the 2012 exchange of power.  Some interesting quotes from the article:

In the three years he has served as the top Communist Party official in Chongqing, the country's largest municipality, Bo has shaken up Chinese politics by becoming a wildly popular politician in a country where politicians in the Western sense are frowned upon.

"Bo Xilai is a selfless person and a fearless one. In these times, we need government officials like Bo . . . He chases justice for ordinary people," said Li Lei, a 48-year-old entrepreneur. Li created the video tribute after reading about Bo's crackdown on Chongqing's mafia, a crusade that not only targeted corrupt businessmen but -- in a departure from previous efforts -- the senior-level government officials who colluded with them.

The more interesting discussions are happening behind the scenes, because this year's people's congress is the unofficial start of mid-term jockeying for the 2012 Communist Party Congress where the next generation of leaders will take the reins from Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
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At 60, Bo is too old and controversial to be regarded as a candidate to become premier. But Chinese scholars say he's likely to be named to the Communist Party's nine-member standing committee -- China's most powerful decision-making group.
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His candidacy reflects how far China's Communist Party has evolved from its origins. Today the party's constituency is increasingly middle class and more concerned with things like business and finance than Marxist ideology.

For more information on the recent crackdown, see the blog Inside-Out China, written by Xujun Eberlein, which covers issues in China, and also issues in Sichuan politics and culture (due to the author's background and ties there).