每日英语：Is Bo Xilai the Past or Future?

Bo Xilai may be in jail, but a struggle is now underway within the Communist Party over the policies he championed in Chongqing, which he advertised as a model for a new China.

In the mega-city that Mr. Bo built as Party Secretary along the banks of the Yangtze River, the hand of a powerful state reached deep into the economy and the lives of ordinary citizens. Its political symbols were Mao-era 'Red songs' and 'Red broadcasting' on local TV networks, which went hand-in-hand with 'Red terror' against underworld gangs, private businesses, local elites -- and others who stood in Mr. Bo's way. The 'Chongqing Model' promised a new vision of prosperity and social progress for China, but it harked back to the dark days of the Cultural Revolution.

mega-city：超级城市　　　hark back to：回溯到，使想起　　　　　

At first, it seemed that the downfall of Mr. Bo would help to discredit that approach. Indeed, the signal to the country that Mr. Bo's downfall was imminent came in March last year, when then-Premier Wen Jiabao used his annual televised news conference to lecture about the horrors of the Cultural Revolution - and make his boldest pitch ever for political reform. He didn't mention Mr. Bo by name, but there was no mystery who he was talking about. The next day, state media announced Mr. Bo's dismissal.

downfall：垮台，衰败　　　　discredit：怀疑，使丢脸　　　　imminent：即将来临的，迫近的　　　　dismissal：解雇，免职

But Mr. Bo's take-down, culminating on Sunday in a sentence of life in jail and the seizure of all his personal assets, has not led to the political reforms that Mr. Wen had in mind - even though he never spelled out what, exactly, those reforms should look like.

culminating：达到顶点，最后的，最终的　　　　　　　　seizure：没收，夺取，捕获　　　　spell out：讲清楚

In fact, new President Xi Jinping himself has started mouthing Maoist slogans. And a political chill has settled over China. In recent weeks, Internet censors have been intimidating popular bloggers (one appeared in handcuffs on state TV after being detained on charges of hiring prostitutes), and police have been rounding up lawyers and activists who argue for constitutional checks on the Party's untrammeled power.

round up：总结　　　　untrammeled：自由自在的，无阻碍的

Proponents of liberal reform in China have long argued that the answer to the ills that now afflict the country - from endemic corruption to growing wealth disparities and a slowing economy - is to roll back the power of the Party-state and introduce checks and balances on the government partly through greater media oversight, judicial independence and democracy. Some had hoped that Mr. Bo's demise, and the rise of Mr. Xi to top office, would trigger the start of political overhauls that have been stalled for decades.

afflict：折磨，使痛苦　　　roll back：击退，回滚　　demise：死亡，终止，转让，遗赠　　overhaul：大修，彻底检查　　stall：止速
Instead, new fissures on how to go forward have opened up within the Party in the run-up to a meeting of Party leaders in November that will chart a new economic course for the country. Ultimately, the question the Party is confronting comes down to this: does Mr. Bo's Chongqing represent China's future, or its past?

This much is clear: Mr. Bo's destruction was far more the result of his personality than his policies.

He was easily the most charismatic leader of his generation: in an era of gray politicians, he outshone his peers, including Mr. Xi. And, even though he was a 'princeling' scion of one of China's leading revolutionary families, he had a populist touch. His knack for connecting with the frustrations of the common citizen was matched by a ferocious capacity to 'ban shi' - get things done - that made him nationally famous.

outshone：比...更亮，胜过　　　　populist：平民主义的　　　　knack：诀窍，技巧，本领　　　　ferocious：残忍的，惊人的

Other provincial leaders appeared to dither while Mr. Bo took on Chongqing's powerful gangs, built vast blocks of public housing, made it easier for farmers to move to the city to better their lives, and fixed the traffic snarls.

dither：发抖，犹豫，踌躇　　　　

But in doing so, he overstepped the limits of a system that still operates by consensus. Just days before his dismissal from office, a defiant Mr. Bo threw aside his briefing notes at a packed news conference at the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing and struck out at unnamed people who, he said, 'have been pouring filth on Chongqing and me and my family.'

defiant：挑衅的，目中无人的　　　　cavernous：洞穴的，空洞的　　　　strike out：打击，想出，产生           purge：净化，清洗

But Mr. Bo's enemies, it turned out, were too numerous - and too powerful -- for his approach to last: the entire top Chinese leadership closed ranks to purge him.

What concerned the leadership most was the way he reached over the Party to build a popular support base, and extended his own political networks within the powerful military and security forces.

It seems unlikely that Mr. Bo will be able mount a comeback. His wife is languishing in prison for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood; his son is limbo in the U.S. as a graduate student at Columbia Law School.

languish：憔悴，受困　　　　　

Mr. Bo's legacy, however, flourishes in Chongqing. Although he didn't invent the state-aggrandizing policies that comprise the 'Chongqing Model', part of his political genius was to pick up on a conservative drift in the country, take it to extremes and brand it as his own.

flourish：兴旺，繁荣　　　　aggrandize：增加，夸大，强化　　　　

For instance, while the rest of China was investing heavily using bank credit to boost economic growth - too heavily, it's now acknowledged -- Mr. Bo was promoting an even more aggressive form of investment that drew both on loans and subsidies from Beijing so that his city could beat the national growth average. Public debt spiraled in Chongqing.

spiral：上升，盘旋，螺旋

He also made no secret of his suspicion for entrepreneurs. He had some of the richest ones arrested, emptied their bank accounts and used the money to pay for public works, his critics say.

He trampled on the legal system, putting on show trials to destroy his opponents. He banned commercial advertising on TV to give more air-time for Party propaganda. And he introduced pervasive security and surveillance.

trample on：践踏，蹂躏　　　　propaganda：宣传　　　　pervasive：普遍的，流行的，无处不在的

It's ironic that Mr. Bo's Maoist slogans are now being echoed by Mr. Xi, whose rise to the top was eased by Mr. Bo's departure. Some argue that his apparent turn towards China's conservative 'left', is actually cover for what will be an aggressive political reform program. In effect, supporters of a more liberal approach say, he's disarming opponents of change.

ironic：讽刺的　　　　disarm：消除敌意，解除武装，缓和　　　　

But in the approach to the Party plenum in November, Mr. Xi has clearly spelled out that political reform is not on the agenda, even as his Premier, Li Keqiang, is readying a raft of pro-market reforms. The big question is whether economic reforms can succeed in the absence of political change.

Former Premier Wen, for one, didn't think so. Without political reform, he said at his final news conference before stepping down, 'such historical tragedies as the Cultural Revolution may happen again.'