In examining the Bo Xilai scandal that has been gripping China, Perry Link explains the Communist Party's peculiar aversion to charisma in selecting its leaders:
The distinguished novelist and blogger Wang Lixiong has written an article arguing that at the end of the 1980s Deng Xiaoping sought to solve this problem by laying down a blueprint that called for two elite groups (one originating around Jiang Zemin, the other around Hu Jintao) who would alternate holding the political center for ten year periods, with the group not in power waiting in the wings. Each group, knowing that the other would get its turn, would have an incentive to be civil. Neither would need, or should want, a charismatic leader. Bland managers like Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping (a member of the Jiang group who is set to take over in fall 2012) would be ideal candidates to sustain the system: they are interchangeable parts whose function is to serve the Communist Party elite, the large group that endures through the shifts.
Bo bucked this trend in a way that made the party uneasy:
Enter Bo Xilai: charismatic, ambitious, impeccable of pedigree, and wealthy—but not one of the interchangeable parts in line for the top. Bo "feels contemptuous of Hu-Wen [President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao]," said a scientist I called, "and was convinced that he should be where [heir apparent] Xi Jinping is." This person paused a moment, then added, "And to be fair, Bo has a point. The others are mediocrities." I asked if Bo’s Maoist "leftism" is sincere or only a way to exploit popular sentiment; Bo is known, after all, for wearing Western suits and driving Ferraris. "80% sincere," the scientist answered.
The Dish 