Jiang himself used a corruption probe in Beijing to oust and jail his rival, Chen Xitong, the former Beijing party boss. That probe netted a number of city officials after the suicide of deputy Mayor Wang Baosen.
In 2007, President Hu Jintao used a corruption case against Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu to purge him and marginalize the remnants of the rival Shanghai gang.
DOWN, NOT OUT
Scandal does not always mean political eclipse. Other officials have survived, but they typically had a powerful defender, and a little bit of time.
Jia Qinglin had both. Tainted by a corruption scandal during his tenure as Fujian party chief in the late 1990s, Jia went on to be promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee in 2002. He is now close to completing a decade in power as the fourth highest ranked man in the Communist hierarchy, just behind Premier Wen Jiabao.
Jia's patron was then president Jiang, with whom he worked in the Ministry of Machine Building early in his career. After the Fujian scandal, Jiang made a point of appearing in public with Jia, whom he later whisked away to serve as Beijing mayor.
Bo also has survived setbacks. He has typically been popular among the people -- as Dalian mayor in the 1990s and now in Chongqing -- but less so among party members, failing to garner enough support to get into even the party Central Committee in 1997.
Bo came back in 2002 when he became commerce minister and in 2007 he finally entered the Politburo as head of Chongqing.
There has been no official suggestion thus far that Bo is under investigation. Since the consulate drama, Bo was seen on television chairing a recent city party meeting, he met with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his name and photos graced the Chongqing newspapers before tapering off.
But Bo has less time, and it is unclear who his patron would be. With just half a year before the congress and his right-hand man being questioned by authorities, his political wings could be clipped.
The crisis has also added pressure on Hu just months before the leadership transition and his retirement. He is due to hand the post of party chief over to Vice President Xi Jinping, and the presidency in March 2013.
Before his political disintegration, Wang had a sterling reputation as a provider of law and order, who as the story went wore bullet proof vests because the campaign he waged had brought death threats from triads. What led him to approach U.S. officials provoked may questions.
"Cadres and the whole of China are watching how Hu deals with Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun," a third source said.
In this fast-moving political opera, it remains to be seen if Bo has room for one more encore.
(AP Photo: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stand at attention as the National Anthem is played during a full honors ceremony in Xi's honor, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, at the Pentagon.)
