Xi calls for purity, unity among party brass

China’s president-in-waiting Xi Jinping urged “purity” and unity among the Chinese Communist Party’s top brass after the removal of Bo Xilai from his office as Chongqing party secretary, The Wall Street Journal reported. Xi wrote in an essay published Friday that Chinese leaders should not “crave to be ostentatious, to play to the crowd, and seek fame and fortune,” instead advocating a behind-closed-doors, consensus-driven policymaking process. Though Xi did not directly mention Bo and the essay was said to have drawn on a speech Xi delivered before Bo’s dismissal, the remarks are widely interpreted to be an attack on the Chongqing leader’s politicking style. The latter’s downfall has highlighted a rift within the party elite between those who support the state-driven model of Bo’s government in Chongqing and more reform-minded elements of the party such as Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Li Keqiang. “China has reached a crucial period in changing its economic model and (change) cannot be delayed,” Li said on Sunday.