For months, many in China and abroad had assumed that the prosecution of disgraced Communist Party leader Bo Xilai would be a mere show trial —predictably scripted, with a predetermined guilty verdict. What they got Thursday, the opening day of the trial, was a show indeed.
For the first time in China's legal history, the trial was relayed online with remarkable openness by the government, which posted updates, photos and transcripts on a live blog throughout the day. But it was Bo's unexpectedly vigorous defense — disavowing an earlier confession to bribery and verbally attacking his accusers — that drew the most attention.
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