( CNN ) -- A year ago , Bo Xilai was one of the most powerful and talked-about politicians in China . He was a member of China 's ruling body , the Politburo , and he seemed to have a shot at gaining a seat on the key decision-making unit within it , the Standing Committee . But on March 15 , he was removed from his post as the party secretary of Chongqing . Today , he 's still one of the most-talked about men in China , not for how far he 'll rise but for how far he 's destined to fall . Charismatic and determined , Bo was primarily known for launching bold initiatives , such as encouraging the mass singing of `` red songs '' ( revolutionary anthems from the days of Chairman Mao Zedong ) and pushing for high-profile drives to rid his inland , south-central city of organized crime . The rise and fall of China 's Bo Xilai . The circumstances surrounding Bo 's fall are intriguing . Was it a power struggle or did he flout the law ? In February , one of Bo 's top lieutenants , whom he abruptly demoted , went to the U.S. consulate presumably to seek political asylum . Last week , the British government asked the Chinese government to investigate the mysterious death of a British businessman who claimed to have close ties to Bo 's family . Despite this drama , Chinese leaders are hoping to minimize disturbances ahead of the major leadership transition of the Communist Party in the fall . So , what can we learn from this strange tale so far ? 1 . No matter how unified the leaders at the top of China 's power structure seems , there are bound to be fissures . Factional divides might be linked to a number of factors , such as personal style , family history , regional identity or ideology . After the Tiananmen protests of 1989 , China 's leaders tried to show that factionalism was a thing of the past . But today , we know fissures may be hidden but can surface anytime . Bo Xilai and the politics of Chinese succession . Riding on his popularity before his fall , Bo took the step of trying to secure a seat on the Standing Committee by an unusual method . He seemed more like someone campaigning for votes rather than striving simply to get a nod of approval from the top Chinese leaders . In a country that has very limited democracy and only local elections , this seemed out of place . 2 . Historical symbolism can be useful , but it can turn into political dynamite . Bo 's rise was helped by his skill at playing to nostalgia for specific aspects of the Mao years . His promotion of old nationalist songs and presentation of himself as a fearless crusader against corruption and urban crime won him broad praise and support . But invoking the Maoist past proved to be a double-edged sword . The first clear indication that Bo was about to fall came when Premier Wen Jiabao gave a speech in March when he talked of the danger of any recurrence of `` Cultural Revolution '' patterns . To invoke the specter of the Cultural Revolution is always to conjure up images of destabilizing `` turmoil '' of a kind most Chinese would rather never see again . Bo 's tactics made it all too easy for his political opponents to call him out . 3 . Purges in China are unpredictable . It 's hard to figure out what to call what has happened to Bo , who has been demoted but not detained and retains membership in the Politburo . He is definitely on the outs , so the term `` purge '' comes to mind , but the story is not finished . Consider Hua Guofeng , Mao 's immediate successor , who was pushed aside after a few years by Deng Xiaoping , yet lived out his days as a minor official . Or Deng himself , who was in favor , out of favor and then back in favor as the leader of the Communist Party . At the other end of the spectrum is Zhao Ziyang , a chosen successor to Deng who was ousted for taking too lenient a stance toward the 1989 protests and remained under house arrest until his death . And powerful mayors who were made scapegoats for anti-corruption drives and eventually executed . We just do n't know at what point on this spectrum Bo will end up . Bo 's story seems hard to follow for outsiders , but nonetheless , it 's worth watching . In China , the most important leadership decisions are made by small groups huddling behind closed doors . This means that unexpected incidents such as Bo 's fall offer precious if hard to decipher signs . Chinese high politics remains a black box in many ways , and like those in airplanes , its secrets will only be revealed when there 's a crash . There 's no indication of that happening to the Communist Party anytime soon , so for now we should make the most of the hints . One thing we can be sure of : We have n't seen the last of factional politics in the Communist Party . Perhaps the strongest evidence of this is how the official press has been full of statements about the leadership being unified . When this sort of message is made too forcefully , there is likely widespread anxiety about its truthfulness . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeffrey Wasserstrom .
Bo Yang , once a powerful politician in China , was removed from his post in 2008 . Jeffrey Wasserstrom : Bo 's story is intriguing -- was it power struggle or did he flout it ? He says incidents like Bo 's fall offer precious information about state of Chinese government . China : Factional politics of Communist Party is not as unified as it seems .