BEIJING—At 6'1", Bo Xilai is among the tallest of his generation of Communist Party leaders. Yet the two police officers who flanked him in official photos at his trial last month, and at his sentencing to life in prison Sunday, topped him by at least an inch or two.

To politically minded Chinese, the subtext was clear: The new Party leadership, under Xi Jinping, was out to diminish the man in the eyes of the Chinese public, some of whom had been seduced by his populist policies and charismatic leadership style.

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