What happened to Bo Xilai?

By Jaime A. FlorCruz, CNN/

As China looks to usher in its next generation of leaders, one of the messiest political scandals to hit the ruling Communist Party in years continues to fester.

Two weeks after Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence in connection with the death of a British businessman, many are wondering: What will happen to her husband, Bo Xilai?

Bo, 64, is a Communist Party "princeling." His father was a contemporary of Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping, and until recently Bo was a rising star in Chinese politics.

He was already in the party's 25-member Politburo and was seen as a contender for the nine-member Standing Committee that runs China.

But his political career unraveled abruptly when his wife, a lawyer and business consultant, was accused of murdering businessman Neil Heywood.

Gu's recent trial and conviction was swift. Although short in credibility, it has allowed Bo's political rivals to sideline him.

He has been in detention since April after being removed from his post in the Politburo and as the Party chief in Chongqing, a sprawling city in southwest China of more than 30 million people.

Curiously, Gu's trial avoided any connections between Bo and the murder. In fact, Bo's name was not even mentioned during the seven-hour trial. More >>