With the Bo Xilai trial commencing this week, Chen Qun writes that corruption has become the primary evil that the government must tackle, as it has stood in the way of reform and opening-up and has become a mortal malady afflicting the popularity of the government and the Party.

The current prosecution of Bo Xilai clearly shows that the judicial system in China is moving out of political intervention and toward greater independence, more considerations to the person and greater fairness, writes Qin Xiaoying.

After a year of delay, the trial of Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party secretary of Chongqing municipality, is finally about to begin. Ma Jian describes his real offense is that he challenged the Chinese Communist Party’s way of doing things.

In an analysis of China’s political system, Daniel Bell deconstructs competing arguments and suggests that reform should be inspired by democracy at the bottom, meritocracy at the top, with room for experimentation in between.