Exemplary behavior by China

Via Instapundit, I came across this genuinely informed and insightful view of the latest Chinese Politbureau intrigue, namely the purging of Bo Xilai from office and the arrest of his wife on charges of murdering a British expat late last year.

However one views the Chinese, the spectre of political instability in a nuclear armed country of a billion plus is ponderous.

The author - Cheng Li - has a positive take on the crisis, and it's worth reading. But I have my own positive take, with a domestic perspective.

Why do I call the Chinese behavior exemplary? ....

First, Cheng Li serves up this little nugget about the balance of power in China, which is the best single paragraph description of Chinese politics I've seen:

Bo Xilai’s story is certainly linked to China’s present-day factional politics, which I characterize as “one party, two coalitions.” One coalition is led by former president Jiang Zemin’s protégés. While the core of this coalition used to be the so-called Shanghai Gang, “princelings” (leaders who come from high-ranking family backgrounds) have become more central since the fall of Shanghai party boss Chen Liangyu on corruption charges in 2006. Bo Xilai is a princeling, as his father Bo Yibo was a revolutionary veteran who served as vice premier. The other coalition primarily consists of former officials from the Chinese Communist Youth League and is led by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. These two coalitions fight with each other over power, influence, and policy initiatives. Bo Xilai’s career advancement can certainly be attributed to his princeling background and his patron-client ties with Jiang Zemin.

"One party, two coalitions". Nice contrast to the "two parties, one coalition" we seem to have here.

Second, in tracing the arc of Bo's downfall, Cheng explains why the guy was not well liked:

In fact, Bo had many enemies, including at least four major groups: (1) liberal intellectuals, who often regarded him not only as a Maoist, but also as a Nazi-like leader who often singled out particular social groups as targets; (2) lawyers and legal professionals alarmed at his roughshod treatment of Chinese legal practices in Chongqing and Dalian; (3) the majority of political and military elites, who feared Bo did not play according to the rules and would take China down the wrong path; and (4) entrepreneurs in China and abroad alarmed at Bo’s anti-market tendencies, evident in his rough handling of Wal-Mart stores in Chongqing.

So, in a nutshell: China took an unreconstructed Maoist, Cultural-Revolution-loving criminal nut-bag demagogue wannabe Führer that nobody liked, named "Bo", stripped him of power and put him under investigation and likely soon behind bars.

Seriously - what's not to like? Well done, China. Well done.