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As authorities tried in vain at the weekend to block the viral spread of the Times report on the internet, the angry response of a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman that the report ''blackens China's name and has ulterior motives'' was at least half right. What is now laid bare is the reality that leadership change in China is, in essence, a matter of one bunch of kleptocrats passing the golden baton to the next - and no amount of last minute air-brushing will erase that unpalatable truth during next month's congress.