bo xilai was no order politician. he was tipped for the very top. he would maintain, i'm sure his supporters maintain that he's been brought down by this scandal for political and not criminal reasons. he was an incredibly charismatic politician, and some argue that worked against him, particularly against other chinese politicians. he made enemies. but what's clear now is the party want to shutdown these damaging revelations. the last thing they want to be seen doing is overshadowing a once in a decade leadership change which will start with the party congress in november. >> martin, i know you'll be following events very closely. always good to speak to you, thanks very much. well, the financial market and the french leck rate will be scrutinizing detail as what's been described as france's toughest budget in 30 years. he must present a credible plan to tackle the country's massive debt, a stagnant economy, record unemployment, all while being very mindful of his plunging popularity. christian is with me now from paris. so the details are coming i

now her husband, bo xilai, could be the next to fall. he was one of the communist party's most charismatic man. he was detained -- he has been detained at a secret location since the scandal broke. he still has many supporters. his website has been shut down. he says china's other leaders feared bo because he was different. >> bo xilai was so popular amongst the ordinary people. he wants to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. they want to get rid of him. >> china's leaders pride themselves on their discipline and unity. the scandal surrounding bo xilai has left them looking divided ahead of their most important political event in a decade. the communist party likes to stage manage and control everything. much is still uncertain. we do not know if bo xilai will still face trial for obstructing investigation into neil heywood's death. the leadership exchange could be just a couple of weeks away. >> in more news from china today, the taiwanese technology giant foxconn has halted production at its plant after a fight broke out amon

bo xilai, film to 15 years ago, when he was mayor. popular, charismatic, and at ease on camera. >> this is the biggest city in china but i hope to create the best. >> he became the commerce minister and one of the two dozen people who run china. but the communist party says all along he was corrupt. the news announced he will go on trial. it said he had abused his power, taking bribes and done serious damage to the image of china. the trigger for the downfall, the death in china last year of the british businessman neil ha yward. his wife was found guilty of murder and he is accused of trying to cover-up for crime. but not everybody believes the case is simple. one of the top forensic scientist told the bbc in her opinion there is no evidence he was poisoned with cyanide. >> there were no signs of cyanide. it would harm caused immediate debt. his skin should have patches. his blood should have been a bright red. >> whatever the truth, the party will install new leaders in november who will rule for the next decade. bo xilai will not b

that led to the ouster of bo xilai-- his former boss-- as communist party leader there. bo is still under investigation. last month, bo's wife gu kailai was given a suspended death sentence for the murder of a british businessman. in afghanistan, the military announced today it has arrested or expelled hundreds of soldiers, as part of an effort to stop so-called insider attacks on foreign troops. the attacks come as the u.s. tries to continue its plan to transition out of afghanistan. margaret warner has the story. >> warner: on a pre-convention swing through virginia yesterday, president obama again touted his plans to end the afghan war. >> this november you get to decide the future of the war in afghanistan. by the end of this month i will have brought home 33,000 troops. ( applause ) i've said we will end this war in 2014.

he was an aide to bo xilai, the ousted communist party life of chongqing. weng was also the chief of police and deputy mayor of chongqing. he was found guilty of covering up the murder of a businessman by bo's wife, gu kailai. prosecutors accused him of defecting and seeking political asylum in chengdu. they also said he abused wiretapping laws and accepted bribes. xinhua news agency reports he bears grave criminal responsibility. he says the judges showed him leniency in sentencing him to only 15 years in prison. they apparently took into consideration his cooperation with the murder investigation. the trial revealed a senior chongqing official slapped weng when he reported the 2011 murder of businessman neil haywood. sources close to the communist party say that official was likely bo xilai. china's leadership dismissed bo from the communist party after weng defected. observers are now waiting to find out how much bo knew about his wife's involvement in the murder and how the party will punish him. a court found gu kailai guilty last month of killing haywo

once actions got party leaders interested in bo xilai. bo was a party chief in chongqing. a member of the bureau and rising star. they started looking into what they called serious violations of the discipline. then suspended him. police had arrested bo's wife, gu kailai, on charges of murdering a british businessman, neil heywood. she was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension. wang tried to cover up gu's involvement in the murder. now, party officials have to decide what to do with bo. to put the biggest political scandal in years behind them. reporting for nhk world, beijing. >>> china is hinting at possible counter measures against the japanese government's plan to purchase the senkaku islands in the east china sea. japanese officials said the government reached a broad agreement to buy the islands from the owner to establish effective control in the peaceful manner. chinese foreign ministry spokesperson hong lei reiterated the islands belong to china. >> translator: japan it moving to internationalize the islands. this infringes the chinese sovereignty and hurt

so, what does the decision to oust bo xilai mean for china and its ruling party? for that, we turn to david shambaugh, director of the china policy program at george washington university. professor shambaugh, welcome back to the program. so expelling bo shi l.a. i, put this in context, how big a step is this. >> margaret, it's been a sort of thunder cloud hajs ofering the chinese political system in the country for the last six months. the whole system has been in suspended animation awaiting for this last shoe to drop as the package just indicated the conviction of his wife and his former police chief where the ant seed ants to today's announcement it is a big-- it a major scandal. it is probably the largest scandal since a man jamed-- on the even of the tiananmen in 1989. and as your package indicated, he was a contender for the highest body, but he obviously stepped on a lot of toes and made a lot of enemies. >> well y did it take, as you said this has been grinding on for months why did it take so long. what was the infighting really about? >> well, we don't e

consulate and given permission that led to the toppling of julybo x -- of bo xilai. >> a taiwan-based company which assembles components for apple computers has closed one of its factories in northern china after a massive fight among its workers erupted at a company dormitory. >> around 2000 workers were involved. foxconn says the trouble started when a personal dispute got out of control. comments posted on the internet came -- claim that factory guards had severely beaten workers, which prompted a further escalation of violence. it is not clear how long this shutdown will last. we will check on the mood among german business leaders in just a minute. >> the mood is not very good. first, let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. >> flooding and landslides that killed at least 33 people in northeast india. heavy rain has caused rivers to overflow. more than 1 million people have had to flee their homes. authorities have sounded the alarm for the region. thousands of villages have been evacuated. >> chinese surveillance boats had sailed close to the islands in th

they stripped bo xilai of his party membership. his case exposed the darker side of china's power structure. the state-run xinhua news agency is reporting the communist party will transfer bo's case to judicial authorities. he's accused of taking large bribes and abusing his power. bo was the highest ranking communist party official of the inland city of chongqing. he was expected to join the party's top brass this year, but a series of incidents led to his downfall. his former aid etemporarily pled to the u.s. consulate in february. officials cited bo for violating party discipline. they suspended him from the post he held in the political bureau. then in july, police charged bo's wife and her aide with murdering british businessman neil haywood. a chinese court handed her a suspended death sentence in august. bo's abuse of power allegation is tied to the role he played in the haywood case. >>> making a decision on bo's future frees up chinese leaders to focus on their transition of power. delegates from across the country will con

they stripped bo xilai of his party membership. his case exposed the darker side of china's power structure. the

more even growth now across china i mean we've heard about chongqing even before we heard about bo xilai because that was a kind of you know a symbol of an inland city that had begun to grow because they built you know that railway lines that build vast road lines that this public. network the still probably some way to go and the sewerage there's all sorts that they can build i mean remember what we think we tend to forget is the parallel with japan which i think is quite interesting because in a sense and japan. got to where japan is now which is kind of a wealthy western country became a. stagnant yeah but if you but i'm looking back at history now it got to where it is before people kind of noticed i mean people sort of noticed japan in the eighty's and it became a threat people notice china when it's at one six it depends how you measure it us g.d.p. per capita not eighty percent of us g.d.p. per capita why because it's huge and that's why so in a sense trying to been found out earlier in the whole kind of holding that i was out earlier well part of your point about what can happen

that led to the ouster of bo xilai-- his former boss-- as communist party leader there. s still under investigation. last month, bo's wife gu kailai was given a suspended death sentence for the murder of a british businessman. in afghanistan, the military announced today it has arrested or expelled hundreds of soldiers, as part of an effort to stop so-called insider attacks on foreign troops. the attacks come as the u.s. tries to continue its plan to transition out of afghanistan. margaret warner has the story. >> warner: on a pre-convention swing through virginia yesterday, president obama again touted his plans to end the afghan war. >> this november you get to decide the future of the war in afghanistan. by the end of this month i will have brought home 33,000 troops. ( applause ) i've said we will end this war in 2014. >> warner: but a linchpin of that promise-- to train afghan forces to take over the fight-- faces a new challenge. 45 nato troops have been killed this year by afghan troops-- 15 just last month. all this, just two years before a planned hand-over of se

. >>> china has expelled disgraced politician bo xilai from the communist party as he faces prosecutioniminal charges. bo was at the center of one of china's biggest political scandals in decades involving corruption charges and his wife's involvement in the murder of a british national. >>> how can we improve our relations in the middle east? congressman keith ellison coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports." her dietitian, and last year, she wasn't eating so well. so i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. and now she drinks it every day. well, it tastes great! [ male announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves -- being my mom. [ male announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer

. >> sreenivasan: the wang case led to the downfall of his former boss bo xilai, a once- powerful communist party leader. he is still under investigation. bo's wife, gu kailai, was given a suspended death sentence last month for the murder of the british businessman. the taiwanese company that makes apple's iphones halted production today at a chinese factory after a brawl overnight. it involved up to 2,000 employees at the foxconn plant in taiyuan. some of them said it started after a security guard roughed up a worker. in the past year, foxconn has come under scrutiny for alleged labor abuses. the company said production at the plant would resume tomorrow. it employs more than a million workers worldwide. two u.s. marines will be court- martialed on charges they urinated on the bodies of taliban fighters in afghanistan last year. images of the incident surfaced in january, touching off a wave of afghan anger and violence directed at u.s. troops. both of the suspects are staff sergeants. in addition to them, three enlisted marines have already been given lesser punishment. the government o

the bo xilai thing -- >> if you pick up on upheavals and tumult, this is going our way, too. >> but unexpectedlyis an added layer of risk, you've seen the nationalism come out with the spratly islands and the disputed over the japanese/chinese islets. we've covered new positions -- >> if you had to talk about a net short position you're not less than you were when you started? >> no, we're about the same, about 20% of our global short fund. >> staying where you are? >> yep. >> this is not, though, the -- i hate to channel jeremiah wright, this is not the chickens coming home to roost yet, is it, in china? the status policies? >> people still believe in that, joe and you and i joked about the fact these wonderful capitalists in the west seem to embrace this central committee. i think we believe in central banks in the west, as i said before, and central committee in china and i just don't think either might -- >> are there empty stadiums, empty apartment buildings? have they overbuilt? doesn't sooner or later the bad loans come -- >> there was a report this morning as i was driving in here that o