QuotesCosmos
Johnson, Ian. “'In the Current System, I'd Be Corrupt Too': An Interview with Bao Tong.” The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, 14 June 2012, 12:40 pm, www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/06/14/china-corruption-bao-tong-interview/.
• Bao Tong discussing Bo Xilai
“

Now the leaders are more deadlocked. If they can’t decide, nothing happens. In America, if you’re corrupt you have to resign. Look at Nixon. He had Watergate and had to resign. In China does that happen? No. Why? Because everyone is in one boat. If that boat turns over, everyone ends up in the water. When I say “everyone” of course I mean the people in power. So in China everyone helps each other out. If you are in trouble, I’ll help you out and if I’m in trouble you help me out. So only in an extreme case like Bo Xilai can someone be pushed out.

— Johnson

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Now the leaders are more deadlocked. If they can’t decide, nothing happens. In America, if you’re corrupt you have to resign. Look at Nixon. He had Watergate and had to resign. In China does that happen? No. Why? Because everyone is in one boat. If that boat turns over, everyone ends up in the water. When I say “everyone” of course I mean the people in power. So in China everyone helps each other out. If you are in trouble, I’ll help you out and if I’m in trouble you help me out. So only in an extreme case like Bo Xilai can someone be pushed out." in the context of "Johnson, Ian. “'In the Current System, I'd Be Corrupt Too': An Interview with Bao Tong.” The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, 14 June 2012, 12:40 pm, www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/06/14/china-corruption-bao-tong-interview/.
• Bao Tong discussing Bo Xilai" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Bo Xilai" (Quotes about Bo Xilai) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Bo Xilai#everyone#trouble#resign#china#boat#help#deadlocked#watergate#leaders#nothing#happens
Bo Xilai

About Bo Xilai

Bo Xilai (Chinese: 薄熙来; pinyin: Bó Xīlái; born 3 July 1949) is a Chinese former politician who was convicted on bribery and embezzlement charges. He came to prominence through his tenures as Mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. From 2004 to November 2007, he served as Minister of Commerce. Between 2007 and 2012, he served as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing, a direct-administered municipality under the central government. He was generally considered the main political opponent of Xi Jinping before Xi became the paramount leader of China.