Former Chinese Communist Party Politburo member and Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai, charged with bribery, corruption and abuse of power, was sentenced on Sunday during the first-instance trial in Shandong to life imprisonment and stripped of his political rights for life and all his personal assets. Though Bo's case has come to an end, to China's top leadership, continuing with anti-corruption work in future is still full of challenges. Bo's case has attracted local and overseas attention. One reason is that he is a senior official. Another is that his influence is anything but ordinary. Bo is the third Poliburo member sentenced after the opening up and reform. His sentence was also the heaviest. In recent years, when he was ruling Chongqing, he started the "singing red and striking black" campaign, which drew much attention and discussion in the mainland, bringing up a faint political trend.Squarely face the cause behind Bo's rise Some comments pointed out that Bo's life imprisonment as well as being stripped of political rights for life was because he refused to cooperate in court. In a criminal trial, the attitude of the litigant, in addition to evidence, is often considered when sentencing. For those who plead guilty, there will be deduction in sentencing. During the trial, Bo retracted his testimony and refused to admit guilty. It is believed he already knew that he would receive a heavier sentence in return. Unlike those who readily admitted guilty in recent big corruption cases exposed, Bo refused to cooperate. The way he acted on court is believed to have been precisely calculated. Other than retracting his testimony, refusing to admit guilty and retorting upon the witness cautiously, Bo's talk was focused mainly on the charges and nothing else. According to an analysis, it could prevent expanding the crisis that would cause shocks and backlashes. As he refused to admit guilty, his political alliances would have less concern about being implicated. It can be seen that the game was not easy at all in court. Bo's case has come to a close. Though according to the law, he can still appeal, he is expected to spend a long time in prison unless some unexpected changes come up. Nevertheless, to China's top leadership, the hidden social factors behind Bo's rise are still hard to dissipate and must be taken care of with caution. Before the incident, Bo, with his vigour and charm, stirred up "singing red and striking black" in Chongqing. This campaign was originally targeted at undesirable regional forces and implementing remedies, embracing the discontent against bureaucracy and corruption within the party since the opening up and reform and making use of singing red songs to bring back the past vigour of the Communist Party. As the gap between the rich and poor as well as inequality resulting from development kept intensifying, Bo won some support through "singing red and striking black". If it was not because he and his trusted subordinate Wang Lijun acted so radically that it triggered resistance that led to infighting, together with Bo's wife committing murder, the situation could have been very much different.The root of discontent in society must be tackled Though Bo has fallen, it does not mean that the discontent over the current situation will totally disappear. After General Secretary Xi Jinping took office, he immediately proposed fighting corruption, strongly warning that if anti-corruption work is not properly done, there is worry over the party and nation's ruin. Later, the prosecution body continued to hit several big tigers, reflecting that consolidation of party discipline and clean governance of officials are not just bare talk. After Xi took office, he stressed going ahead with opening up and reform with no looking back. It reflects his understanding that political power stability must require continued development and equality. So even though Bo's case has already been sentenced, to China's top leadership, the most important in prevention of resurgence is to insist on having long-term anti-corruption work properly done.Published in the Sing Tao Daily on September 23Vocabularylitigant (n) —— 當事人retract (v) —— 撤回retort (v) —— 反駁cautiously (adv) —— 嚴密地backlash (n) —— 反彈dissipate (v) —— 消散bureaucracy (n) —— 官僚resistance (n) —— 反抗consolidation (n) —— 整頓discipline (n) —— 紀律Useful Termsfirst-instance trial —— 一審life imprisonment —— 無期徒刑criminal trial —— 刑事審判social factor —— 社會因素trusted subordinate —— 親信Did you know? Bo Xilai, 64, one of China's top 25 politicians before his dramatic fall, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Sunday. He was sentenced to life in prison on the bribery charges, 15 years for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power. He has 10 days to decide whether or not he will appeal. Judge Wang Xuguang said at Jinan Intermediate People's Court in Shandong that Bo had damaged national interests and those of the people. He had wrongfully used his position to receive bribes amounting to 20.4 million yuan (HK$25.8 million). He also embezzled 5 million yuan in public funds from Dalian city, where he used to be party secretary. Bo was also found guilty of covering for his wife Gu Kailai, who was convicted of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood in 2011.1. The word _____ in the first paragraph is the opposite of "public".2. Bo started the "singing red and striking black" campaign in Chongqing to target undesirable regional _____.3. In the passage, the word ________ means "attraction".4. Xi Jinping understands that continued development and equality are needed for _________________.5. According to the last paragraph, _____ work must be properly done in China.Answers1. personal2. forces3. charm4. political power stability5. anti-corruption翻譯︰George防死灰復燃 關鍵在廉政 原中共政治局委員、重慶市委書記薄熙來受賄、貪污、濫用職權案，昨天在山東一審宣判，被判無期徒刑，剝奪政治權利終生，沒收個人全部財產。薄案雖然告一段落，但對中國最高領導人來說，未來如何繼續維持反貪腐的工作，仍然充滿挑戰。 薄熙來案備受海內外注目，一個原因是他位高官重；二來是他的影響力非比尋常。薄是改革開放後，被判刑的第三個政治局委員，也是判刑最重者。近年，他在管治重慶開始唱紅打黑的運動，在內地引起不少注視和討論，隱隱然帶起一股政治潮流。正視薄熙來冒起潛因 薄熙來被判無期徒刑和剝奪政治權利終生，有評論指是因為他在庭上拒絕合作。刑事審判除了罪證外，當事人回應的態度，往往是判刑考慮，對於主動認罪，量刑會有扣減，薄熙來在審訊時翻供拒認，相信早已預期要付出罪加一等的代價。 與近日揭露的貪腐大案，當事人俯首認罪不同，薄熙來拒絕合作，他在庭上表現，相信是經過精密計算。除了翻供拒認罪，和對證人反詰嚴密外，薄熙來發言的主題全部圍繞檢控內容，不涉其他層面。有分析指他的做法可以避免把風波擴大，避免引發震盪和反彈。由於他拒絕承認罪行，政治盟友減低了受牽連的憂慮，由此可見，今次庭上的博弈絕不簡單。 薄案塵埃落定，雖然按法理他仍然可以上訴，但除非出現意料不及的變化，否則他要在獄中度過一段不短的日子。然而，對於中國最高領導層而言，促成薄熙來冒起的潛在社會因素，仍然不易消散，須小心處理。 未出事前，薄熙來憑藉個人氣魄和魅力，在重慶掀起唱紅打黑，這個運動本來是針對地方的不良勢力，作出整頓，內�包含對開放改革以來，官僚和黨內貪污腐化的不滿，借重唱紅歌重提昔日共產黨朝氣的含意。由於發展衍生出來的貧富懸殊和分配不均日益嚴重，令到薄熙來借唱紅打黑贏取部分人支持，假如不是他和親信王立軍行事過激，引起反抗，釀成內鬥，加上薄妻殺人，今日局面可能非常不同。要根治社會不滿源頭 薄熙來雖然倒下來，卻不等如對現狀的不滿會隨之銷聲匿�，總書記習近平上台後，即提出要反貪腐，強烈警告若然不做好廉政工作，就有亡黨亡國之憂；之後，檢察機關就接連打了幾隻大老虎，反映整頓黨紀和官員廉政，並非只是口頭說說就交了差。 習近平上台後，強調不能走回頭路，要繼續開放改革，反映他明白要保持政權的穩定，必須有持續發展，同時有公平分配，所以薄熙來案雖然已作出裁決，對中國領導層來說，要防止死灰復燃，最重要仍是長期堅持做好反貪腐的工作。刊於九月二十三日《星島日報》迷你倉
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