Tea Leaf Nation

First it was the prodigal melon; now it’s the airborne pepper. On Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, a discussion recently erupted about potential high-leader-in-waiting Wang Yang after a university student in Guangdong (@思想聚焦) recalled a 2006 story in which Mr. Yang threw a farm-fresh pepper at a subordinate. As the story goes, while party chief of Chongqing [...]

With all the furor over Bo Xilai, his family and the suspicious death of Neil Heywood, Tea Leaf Nation brings you a look back at the political calculations that lay behind Bo’s controversial reign in Chongqing and his daring gambit in the form of the “Smash Black – Sing Red” campaign that was to pave [...]

One of the most common shortcomings in U.S. thought on China is overgeneralization, the tendency to see diverse incidents as the concerted actions of a monolithic super state. In the case of Bo Xilai, however, the problem has been the opposite: Numerous ideas without a central theme. The New York Times has focused its coverage on [...]

Shhhh…don’t type that name! “Chongqing” (重庆, which literally means “double celebration”), is currently not searchable on either the Sina or Tencent versions of China’s Twitter-like Weibo platforms. It is searchable on Sohu Weibo, which perhaps merely proves China’s government no longer much cares about Sohu Weibo. For the uninitiated, Chongqing is the city whose Party [...]

Is the treatment of Bo Xilai–China’s former contender for high office, now in detention as he and his wife are investigated respectively for corruption and murder–a victory for the rule of law? Or selective enforcement? Netizens are making their opinions clear: It’s the latter. On April 19, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported (in both [...]

Our dear readers can be forgiven for thinking that Chinese politics is complicated. When it comes to the epic fall of Bo Xilai–covered extensively by Tea Leaf Nation (see our most recent posts here and here)–the uninitiated may feel that it’s too late to jump in.  Not so. The good people at Taipei-based Next Media Animation have [...]

On a high-speed train in the Orient, a murder has taken place under cover of night. On April 11, the public awoke to find that the political career of Bo Xilai, China’s “only celebrity politician,” had finally died. The news did not come as a surprise; Bo’s career suffered a brutal stabbing a month ago and [...]

Hear that sound? That’s the other shoe, crashing to the floor. After hours of speculation about “major news” concerning Bo Xilai, the charismatic and ambitious former Communist Party chief of Chongqing ultimately laid low by his own right-hand man, the news came. At 11:00 p.m. sharp on April 10, an official Xinhua account on Sina [...]

Did Bo Guagua, the 24-year old son of Bo Xilai, inadvertently destroy his father’s career? Major international outlets have reported that the suspicious death of Neil Heywood, a Brit who had been described as Guagua’s English teacher, mentor, or “male nanny,” is a key element that contributed to Bo Xilai’s political downfall. As early as [...]

Bo Xilai, the most controversial politician in China, has been sacked. Or as @唱反调 wrote on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter: “Bo Xilai has been ‘harmonized.’” Indeed, on March 15, the Ides of March, Xinhua News Agency announced that Bo Xilai was removed as the party boss of Chongqing. China’s microblogs have exploded at news of [...]