China is at a crossroads. The economic engine that has allowed its political leaders unprecedented peace and prosperity in the Communist nation, is slowing and the leaders there recognize that changes will be need to continue growing. But that's proving difficult, and coming at the same time the nation attempts a power transition and deals with a political scandal.
Never before has such a dramatic power transfer in China unfolded in the Internet era. Making this even more dramatic is controversial news this week that a one-time popular party leader has been suspended from his posts and his wife has been arrested and charged with murder. All this is unfolding on the Internet in China.
Gu Kailai, the wife of powerful Chinese political leader Bo Xilai, was charged in connection with the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, who was believed to have died in his hotel room in Chongqing. Bo was an up-and-coming political leader in China who has fallen from grace in the wake of a scandal amidst a leadership transition in the country.
China's state-run media announced Tuesday night that a high-level Communist party chief has been demoted and his wife is being investigated in the murder of a British businessman.
Marco Werman talks with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeremy Page, about the story of Neil Heywood, a British man who was found dead in a hotel room in China last November. Chinese officials now say that they suspect Heywood was murdered.