BEIJING, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The "unprecedented openness" of disgraced Communist Party official Bo Xilai's trial shows China's resolve to promote the rule of law, the official media said.
The Xinhua News Agency's opinion piece was about the five-day trial of Bo that ended Monday in a people's court in Jinan in eastern China's Shandong province. No date had been set for announcing the verdict.
Bo, a rising star in the Communist Party before his fall last year, was tried on charges of bribery, abuse of power and embezzlement. The trial was held amid tight security and was closed to foreign journalists.
Details of the court proceedings were relayed through microblog posts by the court. Until his court appearance, Bo had not been seen in public and had remained in jail since being arrested in March 2012.
"The unprecedented openness and transparency in the trial of Bo Xilai have been hailed both at home and abroad. The case also underscores the party's resolve to push the rule of law in China," Xinhua said.
In a separate opinion piece, Xinhua said Bo's trial was based on facts, evidence and the law.
"In key parts of the trial, the court required witnesses to testify in court, in line with the requirement of improving judicial procedure and ensuring defendant's litigation rights enshrined in China's amended Criminal Procedural Law.
"Real-time microblogging of trial proceedings by the courtroom and fierce, orderly arguments between the defendant and prosecutors offered citizens a rare opportunity to tell right from wrong," Xinhua said.
The reports said the open trials of officials like Bo "mark great progress in China's judicial system."
They said the country's Communist Party, which has been in power ever since the founding of the single-party People's Republic of China in 1949, is leading the world's biggest developing country to build an all-around, well-off society.
