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Recent advances in N-formylation reaction for the chemical recycling of carbon dioxide

Green Chem., 2024, 26,11106-11124
DOI: 10.1039/D4GC04094E, Tutorial Review
Qiang Yuan, Xiao Cai, Weiping Ding, Yan Zhu
The homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyst systems applied in N-formylation reaction of amines and CO2 reaction from both homogeneous and heterogeneous systems are summarized.
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry




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Augmentation of Pd-catalysed oxidative C–H/C–H carbonylation through alternating current electrosynthesis

Green Chem., 2024, 26,11177-11181
DOI: 10.1039/D4GC04569F, Paper
Haoran Li, Jiaqi Peng, Li Zeng, Linpu Zhou, Muhammad Shabbir, Feiran Xiao, Jiaxin Yuan, Hong Yi, Aiwen Lei
Unsymmetrical-waveform AC electrolysis facilitates Pd-catalysed oxidative C–H/C–H carbonylation. This methodology highlights the substantial benefits conferred by Pd-catalysed conversions in comparison to traditional DC electrolysis.
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry




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CdS/Mg–Fe layered double hydroxide: a versatile heterogeneous photocatalyst for the acylation of indoles with α-keto acids

Green Chem., 2024, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/D4GC05239K, Paper
Jun-Bo Wang, Tong Yue, Ling Xu, Zhi-Qiang Hao, Zhan-Hui Zhang
The composite CdS/Mg–Fe layered double hydroxide was constructed and confirmed as an efficient recyclable heterogeneous photocatalyst for C-3 acylation of indoles with α-keto acids under light irradiation at room temperature.
To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry




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The Brexit conundrum

Now that the U.K. has voted to leave the EU, how will British cinema be affected?




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'I wanted...': KL Rahul breaks silence on LSG exit

KL Rahul opened up on his recent exit from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and said that he wanted to start fresh in the T20 tournament.




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IND vs SA, 3rd T20I: Predicted playing XIs, live streaming details, weather and pitch report

India will face South Africa in the third T20I of the series at SuperSport Park today (November 13).




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IND vs SA 1st T20 Predicted Playing 11: India vs South Africa Playing XI news, match squads for Durban T20




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IND vs SA 1st T20 Match Date, Live Streaming, Pitch Report, weather, squads, Playing XI prediction




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AUS Prime Minister XI coach Tim Paine hopes Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play 2-day pink ball warm-up game in Canberra




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IND vs SA 2nd T20 Date, Pitch Report, weather, squads, Playing XI prediction




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Ind vs SA 2nd T20 tip-off XI: Will India tinker with their winning combination?




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IND vs SA 3rd T20 Date, Live Streaming: Playing XI prediction, head-to-head stats, pitch report and weather update




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Dow Jones, The New York Post and Perplexity lawsuit: Keeping up with AI




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Four days before he passed away, Bibek Debroy wrote his obituary: ‘There is a world outside that exists. What if I am not there? What indeed?’




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Rahul Gandhi writes: Match-fixing monopoly vs fairplay business — time to choose freedom over fear




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As I live in exile, I watch in horror as the Taliban seeks to erase women




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Body-shaming in tennis! Krejcikova slams sexist remark

Czech Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday called for respect and professionalism in sports media as she hit out at "unprofessional" remarks made about her appearance during a broadcast on the Tennis Channel.





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Always open to exit OVO at the right valuation: Lippo Group’s John Riady

If on a risk-adjusted basis, I think it's a good time to get out, then I will get out, he says.

The post Always open to exit OVO at the right valuation: Lippo Group’s John Riady appeared first on DealStreetAsia.







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EU referendum two months on: the 10 steps that led to Brexit

As the dust settles, hindsight makes the chain of events that culminated in UK’s vote to leave easier to discern

It is two months since British voters surprised themselves by deciding to end the UK’s 43-year relationship with the European Union – “independence day” to some and “the worst political decision since 1945” to others.

As stunned political leaderships on both sides of the Channel continue dithering about what to do next, it is worth looking back at the origins of a crisis the EU elite had not expected.

Continue reading...




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The Brexit debate needs more tolerance on both sides | Michael White

Bad sportsmanship is not confined to either camp. Let’s have more signs of mutual respect across the divide

I’m trying to cure this summer’s unattractive impulse before it turns into a bad habit. Whenever I see someone doing something stupid or self-harming like jumping an orange light on a bike or getting tattooed from neck to ankle, I want to shout: “Brexit voter.”

It’s not nice and it’s not fair. I’m trying to stop. As Theresa May’s divided cabinet meets to decide where to go next, ministers and demoralised Whitehall officials should refrain from recrimination too. The “phoney war” lull before the negotiation storm is about to end.

Continue reading...




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Will Britain's exit from the EU be bad for business? Readers debate

Catch up on our debate on Theresa May’s plans to push ahead with Brexit and what this means for workers and business

Nearly four months after June 23’s fateful Brexit vote, even more half baked nonsense is still being talked by both sides than was spouted during the shabby campaign. Nothing is clear except that it is all going to be a lot trickier to disengage from the EU than some foolish people said – and still say despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

So my starting point is one of humility as I learn stuff I didn’t known before. It’s safe to say that some things will be better outside the EU, others worse, some sectors and individuals will thrive, others languish. The consequences of Britain’s leap in the dark – 37% of the total electorate voted Brexit by a very slender margin – are still largely unknown for all 28 members states. Only charlatans and romantics pretend otherwise.

If we left the EU, we would end this sterile debate and we would have to recognize that most of our problems are not caused by Brussels, but by chronic British short termism, inadequate management, sloth, low skills, a culture of easy gratification and underinvestment in both human and physical capital and infrastructure.”

We will be wrapping up the debate in the next four minutes, but we welcome any final comments and remarks.

We will keep comments open until 2.15pm

A view from Nigel Stern, who runs a design agency in London:

The biggest impact will hiring staff with the right skills. It’s already almost impossible to find skilled staff for our design agency - I say this having battled to keep an Australian whose Visa ran out, and lost the battle. I can’t imagine how difficult it will be when Brexit happens. Good skills are literally the biggest growth driver, so for my business Brexit is a disaster waiting to happen

An anonymous take from a bookseller, who thinks that Brexit will be bad for business and will have profound consequences for non-British citizens living and working in the UK.

I am a small on-line antiquarian and used bookseller. Since Brexit I have noticed an uptick in sales to the United States, but I have noticed a distinct decline in sales to Europe, though they do still take place. The effect of Brexit on Europe’s perception of Britain as a country is very negative - and the announcements from the Tory party conference will only reinforce the impression that Britain is not opening up for business. In fact, the very reverse: closing down for business and pursuing policies of discrimination against foreigners, especially from Europe.

The level of discrimination against immigrants from Europe is most definitely alienating what should be Britain’s closest friends. As someone with a slight foreign accent I no longer feel entirely safe in this country. A hard Brexit would be a disaster for me - as many books go abroad and the customs paperwork would add a considerable workload as well as extra costs in the case of more valuable books. There literally is not a single advantage to be derived from Brexit except for the lower pound, which could have been lowered by other means which would have done far less damage to Britain’s economy and society. I don’t know whether in future I will be able to continue business in this country and am wondering whether to move elsewhere.

News of job losses in Scotland are alarming.

The Scottish economy would suffer a severe shock if the UK has a “hard Brexit”, losing up to 80,000 jobs and seeing wages fall by £2,000 a head per year, an economics thinktank has warned.

The Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) has told the Scottish parliament that entirely leaving the EU single market – known as a hard Brexit – would see the Scottish economy decline by 5% overall, or by £8bn within a decade.

Related: Hard Brexit could cost Scotland £2,000 a head and 80,000 jobs

One commenter says that Brexit will cause some economic pain, although the extent of this is not yet known.

What we know for sure is that Brexit of any substantial kind will certainly cause some economic pain in the short, medium, and long-term, from breaking existing trading relationships and loss of easy access to a large pool of human capital. The additional opportunities, on the other hand, are all long to very long-term, and are uncertain and beyond the UK's control.

Even the bits which are under the UK's control (like massive investment in training and education in a way which actually achieves something instead of pfaffing around with needless re-structuring and testing kids to the edge of mental breakdown) are all things that would have made sense before, so it's optimistic to imagine that they'll happen in a future where the public finances are under more pressure than ever before (once Brexit decline takes hold).

Here’s a view from Richard Rose, who is worried about Brexit’s impact on the car industry.

I am an engineer working at Rolls-Royce in Derby but I have spent most of my working life so far in the car industry. I am 100% certain that if the UK Brexits out of the single market, it can wave ¾ of its car industry goodbye within 5 years. The idea of replacing the current arrangement with one of tit-for-tat tariffs on cars sold into and out of the UK is preposterous – we will be in the absurd situation of paying taxpayers’ cash to car companies in the form of ongoing subsidies, and every successive government will be looking for ways to reduce or avoid these payments every four years.

The whole arrangement sounds ridiculous and seeing as all the manufacturers who build here have sites inside the Eurozone where they can avoid all that uncertainty, what do you think they’ll do? Its keeping me awake at night as I feel ‘my’ industry is potentially about to be rendered economically unviable just as my right to live and work abroad is being curtailed.

Quitting the European Union’s single market is considered bad for business unless you belong to the small band of economists who believe that Brussels’ employment and environmental protections stifle innovation, that maintaining a low pound is easier outside the EU, and restrictions on migrants is unlikely to ever be enforced.

But the threat from Nissan to switch investment in its next car away from the north east without some form of compensation is the clearest indication yet that multinationals based in the UK to benefit from the single market are going to drift away as they consider an upgrade or new factory that would be cheaper abroad.

John Flahive, 51, a documentary producer and sales agent, is concerned about the implications of a “hard Brexit” on his business.

The impact on business is inevitably negative. At the moment we have free movement of goods throughout the EU, all I have to do in my own business is put an address on a shipment and off it goes. It’s just not possible for whatever is put in its place to improve on that.

A ‘trade deal’ usually involves reduced tariffs which is a dis-improvement on no tariffs at all. This would bring back customs paperwork and all the associated admin, whereas currently we have none at all. There is no upside, only a downside.

This has just launched online. Polly Toynbee asks why the health secretary would insult the one third of our doctors who were born abroad by suggesting that they’re only “interim”.

Hunt’s claim that we will be “self-sufficient” in medical staff is nonsense – and he knows it. These new doctors won’t qualify as consultants until 2030, while everywhere has ageing populations and the WHO estimates a global shortage of 2 million doctors. The number of people in Britain over the age of 85 will double by 2037 – and who is to care for them if we chase away all foreigners?

Related: Telling NHS doctors to go home is self-harming madness | Polly Toynbee

An interesting take from one commenter below the line:

The main reason I don't think it'll be good for business is the way it is and has effected Britain's image around Europe and probably the world. Made in Britain isn't actually very popular in Europe at the moment. When I am with my girlfriend in Spain what image of Britain is on the television? Farage, Boris Johnson and their xenophobic rhetoric. After all it's the consumers who are the most important when it comes to our exports. Do you really want to buy goods from a nation who's image is one of distaste and xenophobia to their neighbours. Look at the effect the Iraq war had on French products in the U.S when they went ( rightfully ) against the Iraq war.... Everything Farage and Boris do is making it far easier for the E.U to take a tough stance in negotiations with support from their people. Especially when they act so arrogantly by saying the E.U has too much to lose and will have to take any deal we offer.

Brexiters seem to have no idea on how politics will effect us more than anything else.

Comments are open below the line and our debate is underway.

Kicking us off from the form is a small business owner in the south east of England, who has noted a definite impact of the vote:

I’ve already seen an impact in car buying attitudes in the months following the referendum. Traditionally, September is a busy time for my business (my company move new and used cars around the U.K.) and already the volume of movements compared to March and this time last year is worrying.

Every dealership I visit, staff say the same thing; “It’s unusually quite for this time of year”. The uncertainty created by the referendum is clearly having an affect and I worry for the future of my business once article 50 is triggered. If people are out of work they won’t be buying cars, meaning I won’t be moving them round the U.K.

Polly Toynbee raised some interesting questions about the impact of hard Brexit this week. She wrote:

As speech after speech salutes “taking back control” as “a fully independent sovereign country”, only old sober-sides Philip Hammond throws cold water. There is a price to pay, he warns. He didn’t disagree with Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that Brexit will cost the UK 4% in growth in coming years.

Related: Will Theresa May be the next Tory leader to be bulldozed by the Europhobes? | Polly Toynbee

Theresa May made one thing perfectly clear during this year’s Conservative party conference: Brexit means Brexit.

The Tory leader said controlling immigration and withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European court of justice would be her priorities during European Union (EU) exit. She says Article 50 will be triggered before the end of March 2017.

Continue reading...




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How Theresa May’s exit compares with other difficult departures from No 10

The Guardian’s former political editor revisits humiliating prime ministerial resignations from Robert Peel to David Cameron

Both Brexit camps claim Sir Robert Peel, the Tory moderniser whose 1846 resignation crisis most resembles May’s. But he had succeeded where she failed. Determined to cut food prices for industrial workers, Peel pushed through repeal of protectionist Corn Laws with opposition help. In retaliation, rightwing enemies defeated his Irish Coercion bill. Peel resisted Queen Victoria’s appeal to stay, but grateful crowds cheered him as he walked to the Commons to resign. He slipped out by a side door, but was spotted and cheered home. Divided Tories lost office for 20 years.

Continue reading...




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Mexico’s business chiefs urge voters to shun Amlo

Leftwing nationalist is the frontrunner in July’s presidential race




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Missionary zeal: ‘Amlo’ promises to shake up Mexico   

López Obrador’s fans see a champion of the poor but opponents fear a leftwing populist




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Mexico’s leftist ‘Amlo’ weighs up Trump challenge

Would-be president and foreign policy neophyte faces test north of the border




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Brussels says Britain must engage in full scope of post-Brexit talks

UK will be pushed to take part in detailed discussion on fishing waters and other EU priorities




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Madhuri Dixit And Her Sister Give Sibling Fashion Goals In The Same Outfit

Madhuri Dixit is among those rare actresses in the Bollywood industry whose charm is timeless. Her brilliant dancing skill is admired by all of us. Her graceful and energetic dance numbers in the hit songs like Ek Do Teen, Dola




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Tripeptide-dopamine fluorescent hybrids: a coassembly-inspired antioxidative strategy

Chem. Commun., 2020, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/D0CC01882A, Communication
Jun Guo, Fan Zheng, Bo Song, Feng Zhang
Coassembling peptides with dopamine molecules can construct hybrid nanostructures with a large Stokes shift green fluorescence, which is an effective antioxidative strategy for biomolecules.
To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry




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PM-CMs meet on Monday to discuss lockdown exit

Arresting corona spread, reviving economy to get equal attention





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Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

Emmett is a humble teen from Detroit. His family has been downtrodden for generations, working menial jobs after menial jobs and he isn't showing much to prove that he can break the cycle that has plagued his family.

One day however, he gets a chance to go to a strange planet to work with an alien people called Adamites. However, there's a catch- he is going to have to compete for his spot against teens from around the world each as hungry as he is to make the cut. Babel, the company who is sponsoring the trip promises a big payout if they can succeed.

Thus begins a gauntlet of events in groups and alone that sees the teens become hardened and their skills improve. The group has many distinct personalities some of which don't mesh and the inevitable conflicts arise.

The tasks the kids are asked to do test their limits in many ways but perhaps the most difficult is manipulating the alien substance, nyxia. For some reason the substance also reminded me of the alien symbiote that Spiderman encountered in his whole Venom story arc because soon the line between manipulator and that which is being manipulated becomes blurred.

Babel is a mysterious company and the folks in charge seem to have a ton of secrets themselves. There definitely seems to be some larger plan in place-the reason the kids have been recruited is because the Adamites like children. I can't wait to see what else is in store for Emmett on Eden. Some read alikes to this book are the Maze Runner series and Philip Reeve's Railhead.





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Administrator Wheeler Discusses North American Environmental and Transboundry Water Issues with Canada, Mexico at CEC

(MEXICO CITY) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler wrapped up trilateral meetings with Canada and Mexico as part of the 25th Anniversary of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Council meetings in Mexico City.




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El Programa Ambiental México-EE. UU. Frontera 2020 anuncia financiamiento disponible para proyectos de salud pública y ambiental

SAN DIEGO – Hoy, la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de Estados Unidos (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés), en coordinación con el Banco de Desarrollo de América del Norte (BDAN), emitió una Solicitud de Propuestas (RFP, por sus siglas en inglés) a través del Programa Frontera 2020.




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U.S.-Mexico Border 2020 Program Announces Available Funding for Public Health and Environmental Projects

SAN DIEGO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with the North American Development Bank (NADB), released a Request for Proposals (RFP) through the Border 2020 Program.




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U.S. EPA Honors 2020 ENERGY STAR® Partners of the Year in Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico & Texas

DALLAS – (March 30, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 and the U.S. Department of Energy are honoring 20 ENERGY STAR partners for their outstanding contributions to public health and the environment.




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mb 4.3 SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA

Magnitude  mb 4.3
Region  SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA
Date time  2020-05-09 17:22:32.3 UTC
Location  40.83 N ; 78.58 E
Depth  1 km




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M 4.1 OAXACA, MEXICO

Magnitude   M 4.1
Region  OAXACA, MEXICO
Date time  2020-05-09 18:14:48.0 UTC
Location  16.93 N ; 94.91 W
Depth  122 km




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mb 4.7 SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA

Magnitude  mb 4.7
Region  SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA
Date time  2020-05-09 20:11:23.3 UTC
Location  41.03 N ; 78.42 E
Depth  1 km




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mb 4.8 KAZAKHSTAN-XINJIANG BORDER REG.

Magnitude  mb 4.8
Region  KAZAKHSTAN-XINJIANG BORDER REG.
Date time  2020-05-10 01:14:48.4 UTC
Location  46.54 N ; 82.06 E
Depth  6 km




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Musk threatens to exit California over virus restrictions

Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Saturday to pull the company's factory and headquarters out of California in an escalating spat with local officials who have stopped the company from reopening its electric vehicle factory.




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M 4.4 OFFSHORE OAXACA, MEXICO

Magnitude   M 4.4
Region  OFFSHORE OAXACA, MEXICO
Date time  2020-05-10 02:29:48.0 UTC
Location  15.55 N ; 94.79 W
Depth  16 km




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Why the government will anxiously look at the R number as lockdown is eased

As the government begins to ease the lockdown it will keep an anxious eye on the R number.




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The Bo Xilai Trial and Chinese Politics

26 August 2013

Dr Tim Summers

Senior Consulting Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme (based in Hong Kong)

Scandal and speculation surrounding the demise of Politburo member Bo Xilai raised questions about the stability and cohesiveness of China's political elite. However as his trial comes to an end the main political challenge is not at the elite level, but in the Communist party's ability to gain legitimacy among the wider public. 

The trial of Bo Xilai for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power has generated a number of surprises. To start with, there has been more transparency than most observers had expected, with the court issuing transcripts at regular intervals. Plus, the court used Chinese social media to post images of the proceedings.

This level of transparency is unusual in Chinese trials. However, we should be cautious about seeing this as a precedent for the future development of judicial practice. Bo's case is rather special, both because of the senior positions he held and because of the level of speculation around the case – and Bo's fate – ever since the drama began last February when Wang Lijun, Bo's former police chief in Chongqing, fled to the US Consulate-General in Chengdu. 

Wang, who is already serving a prison sentence after being convicted of abuse of power and other offences, gave testimony at Bo's trial. The exchanges between Bo and Wang will be picked over further, with their salacious details of the arguments that apparently ensued in January 2012 when Wang told Bo that Bo's wife was suspected of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, in Chongqing the previous November. 

It is highly likely that Bo will be found guilty. Nonetheless, the trial gave Bo the opportunity to put across his views in court. He surprised observers on the first day by retracting confessions he made during the pre-trial investigation process. It is not clear whether this was expected by the prosecutors in advance of the trial, but it contributed to the trial lasting for five days – much longer than expected. 

Result already decided

Most media coverage and comment has focused on the details of the various events, which came out in court. However the political implications lie elsewhere. 

The trial should not be seen in isolation but as the culmination of a process which began in the days after Wang's attempted defection was brought to light. The party's subsequent handling of Bo Xilai proceeded in cautious stages: first the removal from his post as Party Secretary in Chongqing in March last year, then his 'suspension' from the Politburo and Party Central Committee a month later while an investigation was carried out by the party. Only in September 2012 was Bo expelled from the Communist Party and the file handed over to state authorities for prosecution.

This train of events serves as a reminder of the context in which China's judicial system operates. Whatever the transparency of proceedings in court, or the professionalism of judges and lawyers, the party's 'leadership' of judicial work means that politically important cases are often subject to direction from the party apparatus. 

Popular, not elite, politics is at stake

The Bo case has often been presented as a story of turbulence and factional infighting at the top of the party. But in November 2012 the party delivered a clear leadership transition at the top of both party and military from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping, with the government handover in March this year. With the new team firmly in place, the transparency accorded to Bo's trial demonstrates confidence among the leadership, not division. 

Political challenges lie not at the top of the party, but in the ability of the party leadership to achieve legitimacy among the wider public. The revelations in the Bo case, from last spring and up to and including the trial, have increased levels of public cynicism about the behaviour of senior officials. Posts on China's social media will provide glimpses of the wider response to the trial; popular opinion is likely to be divided – as it was when Bo was still a serving official, and has remained since his removal from office. 

Given that the party seeks to present itself as being 'responsive' to public concerns, the main political implications of the trial will be seen in the impact it has on the leadership's credibility, not in elite politics. It is that imperative, not judicial reform, which explains what we have been allowed to see of the trial. 

To comment on this article, please contact Chatham House Feedback




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Bo Xilai: Rise and Fall

6 September 2013

Professor Kerry Brown

Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme

It is one of the tritest statements about politics in China, one sometimes heard from the mouths of retired senior diplomats: 'all the Communist Party of China cares about is power.' Things like this make it clear that whatever the key qualities that senior diplomats in most cultures need, some capacity for deeper questioning and reflection is not amongst them. 

Functionally, of course, the statement is right. The Communist Party is focused on power, and regards a monopoly on power as its key objective. But there are many different kinds of power, and many different ways to exercise it. And for a perfect illustration of this, the fall and sentencing of Bo Xilai offers great insights. 

Destined for politics

Had there been a menu of the things that the most perfectly placed leader of the Communist Party needed in the second decade of the twenty first century to be promoted and successful, then Bo had it: sterling elite family links in a highly tribal and networked system through his father, Bo Yibo, one of the great founding immortals; excellent provincial leadership records, in both Liaoning and then Chongqing, in a system where the road to Beijing lies through China's provinces; great charisma and communicative ability, shown in the way he managed to impress visiting foreign dignitaries and in the disgruntled sounds that came from some members of the public after his fall. 

But beyond all these, Bo had something much more important, and much rarer in Chinese modern politics: a political vision which differentiated him from his colleagues. It was this, perhaps more than anything else, that meant when they had the weapons to attack, his enemies, who were numerous and highly threatened by his individualistic behaviour, could go for the kill. 

Modern China is blighted by a great contradiction. It is in one moment both rich and poor. This has been widely acknowledged, both inside and outside the country. Its status as a rich poor country creates great challenges for policy makers and politicians. It is one they have been addressing through creating more access to public goods, more empowerment policies through investment in education and poverty relief, and more focus on addressing the urban and rural divide. Bo's prescription however was a uniquely popularist one. His social housing campaign in Chongqing was the most sustained effort to allow citizens in a city in China to have a realistic shot at being homeowners. He looked precariously close to threatening some immense areas of vested interest in the construction sector, and his anti-mafia campaign, while brutal and controversial, had an element that appealed to a popularist sense of social justice. At least this time, many thought, a government leader was taking on people who were dabbling in their own form of violence rather than picking on migrants and rural protestors. 

Bo made policy attack on inequality part of his persona in Chongqing, and in effect turned the tables on those who had lobbied for him to be sent there in 2007 as a means to sideline him. He made national and international headlines, and, it should be remembered, secured vociferous support from visiting national leaders, amongst them a highly enthusiastic Xi Jinping who went to Chongqing in 2010 and gave the city a ringing endorsement – and, by association, Bo's style of leadership. 

For all the court drama and dark intrigue on show in Jinan in August, the criminal charges that were brought against Bo cannot deflect from the power issues above. Power in China is not the uniform, never-changing monolithic entity or quality that diplomats lazily refer to – but something like a form of energy, or a currency, which can mutate, change, and dissipate in ways which are often hard, and sometimes even impossible, to understand. 

Downfall

The final image of Bo is of a man allowed a voice one final time to defend himself on the narrow criminal charges. It was also of someone who knew that on the bigger political issues he had been brought down by, there was no point in trying to speak out. His political death sentence had been delivered during this fall from grace the year before. Someone weaned, nurtured, and trained to exercise power had what they most desired and felt suited for taken away when it was just within their reach. Since then, there was little else to do but tidy up. And that, in Jinan, is precisely what happened. 

To comment on this article, please contact Chatham House Feedback




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Xi Jinping and the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong

29 October 2014

Professor Kerry Brown

Associate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Programme
The recent protests in Hong Kong shed remarkably little light into the real soul of the current Chinese leaders.

20141029XiHongKong.jpg

A child walks before a portrait of China's president Xi Jinping on a barricade outside the entrance to a road occupied by protesters in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on 12 October 2014. Photo by Getty Images.

The umbrella revolution in Hong Kong, precipitated by the announcement of the decision on how to hold the 2017 elections for chief executive in September, has now sprung several leaks. The passion of the initial protests which convulsed the centre of the city, and which even heavy downpours of rain could not dampen, has evaporated. Street protests only get you so far. The activists have to engage now in the delicate art of politics and compromise. This is where either the real achievements are gained or everything is lost. Street protests belong to the world of theatre. They only make a difference if they give impetus and energy to what happens afterwards, in the establishment of long term arrangements and real outcomes.

The political vision of the leadership in Beijing about the Hong Kong issue is pretty clear. The idea that China talked about 'One country, two systems' on the basis of each part of this balanced clause having equal weight is now over. It was an illusion. In fact, for the Beijing leadership, there was only ever one important part of that four word phrase – the first two words. 'One country' trumps everything. And the preservation of their idea of that one country and its best future is key. A Hong Kong which would be able to march off with a political system increasingly at odds with that presiding just over the border was never on the cards.

Now both the Hong Kongese democrats, and the outside world, are relieved of their illusions, how best to deliver a future for Hong Kong in an age when the airy empty promises of its old colonial masters, the British, are no longer relevant. First of all, there has to be a shift in thinking. Like it or not, Hong Kong figures as a province in the thinking of Beijing leaders around Xi Jinping – a special province, one that has a unique status, and significant value for them, but a province all the same. In that context, it lines up with all the other issues and problems they have to deal with, from restive western provinces to fractious and demanding central ones, to placating the demands for more freedom and space of boom towns like Shanghai or Guangzhou. Hong Kongese have to think about how they relate to all these domestic issues, and pragmatically accept that they are irrevocably tied to a system that has to handle these – its success or failure in the management of this is also their success or failure. Hong Kongese have a vested interest in the Beijing government. They have to start thinking of far smarter ways of being allies in this, rather than camping outside of it and resting on loud declarations of their privileges. A sense of entitlement inherited from the British will get them no traction in China anymore, where there are far larger priorities and battles going on.

Current Chief Executive C Y Leung has been a failure in almost every respect. He has proven poor at promoting Hong Kong’s interests in Beijing, the one place where he needs to deliver – and even poorer at delivering palatable messages back in Hong Kong. That Hong Kongese at least have some form of representation in 2017 is not much, but at least it is something. A good politician could have made something of this, messaged it differently, and used it as a basis on which to build. But Leung simply wasn’t up to this. It is hard to see him having a political life after 2017.  In many ways, he is already finished.

For the protestors, they now need to think deeply about their future strategy. They have made their point, and at least proved that the myth of Hong Kong’s apolitical population can be safely consigned to a trash can. Having politicized the city, they now need to argue, mobilize and build constituencies to support developments beyond 2017. Business is important here – the one constituency the Beijing leadership probably listen to and take seriously – so having an engagement strategy with them is crucial. Framing a demand for better quality leadership in the future is all-important here, because business, political and social constituencies all want to see this. If the Xi leadership in Beijing insists on a system where only two or three people can go through and then be voted on by the electorate, then the protesters at least have the negotiation space to demand far better quality candidates than the ones that have led the city since 1997 and its reversion to Chinese sovereignty. All three of the chief executives so far have been disappointments. Hong Kong now has the right to ask for a better deal, and insist that the people put forward are at least up to the job asked of them – something that the current incumbent evidently is not.

Does all this prove that Xi Jinping is a strong, forceful leader? Perhaps. Perhaps not. One could argue that a really strong leader would have had the courage and vision to let Hong Kong adopt a more open system in elections after 2017, and the confidence not to fear kickback from this into the mainland. What it does show is that, underneath all the heat and noise, Xi is as risk averse as his predecessor Hu Jintao, and has taken, at least domestically, a very safe option. If he had gone to Hong Kong and dared to explain directly to the people there what the Beijing government’s thinking was on this issue, that would have been even more impressive. At most, we can conclude that the Xi leadership is not radically different from their predecessors, but just aware of a vast menu of challenges they need to face domestically, of which Hong Kong is one of the least important. Beyond that, recent events over Hong Kong have shed little light into the real soul of the current Chinese leaders. At most it has proved what has long been known: that if you really want to see what they believe and what they want, then you cannot do that from Hong Kong but have to look at what they do over the border. In that sense, and only that sense, Hong Kong continues to occupy a unique position as the last place in China where its leaders can truly be themselves.

This article was originally published by IB Tauris.

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