BEIJING: Key dates in the downfall of Bo Xilai, a former rising star in China’s ruling Communist Party who now faces prosecution for a range of crimes related to a scandal that saw his wife convicted of murdering a British businessman.

FEBRUARY 2012

- 2: Bo’s right-hand man and Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun is demoted

- 6: Wang visits US embassy in Chengdu reportedly seeking political asylum

- 7: Wang leaves US embassy of his own volition

- 8: Wang is placed on sick leave for stress and over-work. Sick leave is a term often used as a euphemism for a political purge in China

MARCH

- 2: State news agency Xinhua says Wang has been placed under investigation, giving no further details

- 9: Bo publicly defends his wife during a press conference at the annual meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, or parliament

- 15: Bo sacked from Chongqing party secretary position, with no reason given for his dismissal. Vice-premier Zhang Dejiang takes over

- 26: British government asks China to investigate death of its citizen Neil Heywood. Rumours that Bo’s wife Gu Kailai may have been involved begin to circulate

APRIL

- 10: Bo is stripped of his position in the Communist Party’s powerful 25-member Politburo and the wider Central Committee. Government says Gu is being investigated on suspicion of involvement in Heywood’s murder

JULY

- 26: Gu and Zhang Xiaojun, an employee of the family, are charged with killing Heywood

AUGUST

- 20: Gu is handed a suspended death sentence for murder. The sentence is usually commuted to life in prison

SEPTEMBER

- 5: Wang is charged with defection, taking bribes and abuse of power. An indictment quoted by state media said Wang had “known beforehand” that Gu was under “serious suspicion” of murdering Heywood, without taking action

- 19: Chinese state media says Bo knew Gu was suspected of murdering Heywood, linking him to a criminal act for the first time. It also suggests an attempted cover-up, saying Bo rebuked and slapped Wang after the police chief told Bo that Gu was a suspect in the murder

- 24: Wang is sentenced to 15 years in prison following a two-day trial in which he “did not raise an objection”

- 28: China’s state media says Bo is expelled from the party and will “face justice” for alleged crimes including abuse of power, taking bribes and improper sexual relations