Amid the pageantry this week of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, which meets for 10 days each year in early March, the antics of one man have consumed the public’s attention.
Bo Xilai, the Communist party secretary of the western city of Chongqing, finally broke his silence on Friday in front of a small group of journalists – dozens of others were kept out – and answered questions about the scandal that has engulfed him in recent weeks.
With his Cheshire cat smile, immaculate navy blue suit and yellow tie, he acknowledged an investigation had been launched into Wang Lijun, his former police chief in Chongqing, after he tried to defect to the US in early February.