The mainland leadership's move over the weekend to launch a sweeping crackdown on microblogging sites is notable not only for its scale and severity but also for its timing.
It came after the authorities had largely turned a blind eye to frenzied rumours of political infighting at the highest levels and allowed them to circulate over the internet for weeks.
The decision to crack down was made apparently after the leaders were incensed by the internet-fuelled rumours of a coup and gunshots following the March 15 sacking of Bo Xilai as the Chongqing party secretary. Although those rumours were immediately dismissed as fabrication, several Western newspapers picked them up, lending them more credence.
More importantly, the crackdown was also aimed at sending out a subtle signal that the top mainland leaders, who were until recently rumoured to have different opinions on how to deal with Bo, have reached consensus.
They are also apparently worried that such rumours, if left unchecked, will have a serious impact on the once-in-a-decade leadership reshuffle, which is entering the final crucial stretch of intense horse-trading before the unveiling of the new leadership at the Communist Party's 18th congress in October.
But the irony is that the crackdown, harsh even by mainland standards, is expected, in the absence of facts, to fuel even more and wilder speculation about the mainland's secretive power politics. Illustrious mainlanders have already started to use code names and newly coined phrases to swap gossip.
