Ai Weiwei on China’s Trial of the Century

The just-concluded trial of Bo Xilai will be remembered as one of the most critical political milestones in contemporary Chinese Communist history. For many years after Chairman Mao’s death in 1976, show trials were straightforward affairs. For their role in the devastating Cultural Revolution, the Gang of Four were simply charged with “anti-party activities” and convicted. Today, a political trial needs to take into consideration many more factors.
As China assumes a more central role in international affairs and touts its rapid economic growth over the past 30 years, its leaders seek to establish a reputation for governing society according to the rule of law. Tested by Bo’s trial, the new leadership has struggled to maintain that fiction, and to appear open and confident before its people. Ultimately, those efforts have failed.


Bo’s case must have felt to party leaders like a tumor growing near a carotid artery -- too dangerous to treat, yet too aggressive to be left alone. All involved are members of the social and political elite, starting with former Politburo member Bo; his wife, Gu Kailai; the police chief of Chongqing, with whom she may have been having an affair; a murdered British business partner; top Chinese and foreign businessmen; even Bo’s son, a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Twisted Drama

To project strength and show that the party stood above petty politics, authorities decided to release a “live” -- but clearly censored -- transcript of the proceedings. This record certainly did provide exciting entertainment; no preordained script could have come up with such a deliciously twisted drama.
Yet by presenting a censored account, officials raised more questions than they answered. The public knew they weren’t seeing the whole picture, and could only speculate on what major pieces of the story remained hidden. Even their reactions were censored: Within a day, the Jinan court received more than 4,000 comments on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, but only 22 were allowed to be shown.
Censorship remains the regime’s default response to any outpouring of public opinion. In an instance like this where transparency is required, China’s leaders are unable to truly embrace openness, or to perform in any way that would earn understanding and sympathy from the public at large. Instead, authorities sought to contain the trial’s narrative within bounds that wouldn’t shake the party’s foundations.
Perhaps the regime thought it could avoid uncomfortable questions by focusing on the criminal allegations against Bo, as if this were a normal trial being held according to the rule of law. This was a farce, however, one that no ordinary Chinese believed.
In straining to maintain the fiction, prosecutors made obvious procedural mistakes, used unfairly obtained evidence and brought forward witnesses who were clearly testifying under coercion. Conducted in this self-defeating manner, both the intent of the trial and the eventual result came off as ridiculous. Chinese will never be convinced that Bo received a fair hearing, because they knew the full truth wasn’t being exposed.
Bo may indeed be guilty of corruption and abuse of power, as the court is sure to find him. But justice can never be achieved partially. There is either justice, or there is none. Even the simplest of games requires a clear set of rules. Otherwise the game can only be seen as “insanity,” as Bo described his wife’s video testimony.
If the regime didn’t manage to convey its intended message with Bo’s trial, what message was received? Cadres were supposed to learn that bribe-taking wouldn’t be tolerated, no matter how illustrious the official. Rather than encouraging party members to be honest or hardworking, though, the trial has taught them above all to do whatever it takes to stay on the right side of the current leadership. The constitution and the law, even basic moral judgments, hardly figure in their calculations.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...e-century.html