Hidden news

摘要

In an earlier era, it would have been the sort of scurrilous rumour picked up by scandal sheets in Hong Kong but only whispered in Beijing: the high-profile right-hand man of a prominent Politburo member gets wind that he is about to be cashiered by the authorities and flees to an American consulate seeking protection (fate unknown). Even 15 years ago, most of mainland China would have heard nothing and Chinese officialdom could have remained comfortably silent.