As senior leaders are purged and as retired provincial officials publicly call for Politburo members to be removed, it has become clear that China is at a crossroads. China's future no longer looks to be determined by its hugely successful economy, which has turned the country into a world power in a single generation. Instead, the country's murky and increasingly fractured politics are now driving its fate.

One need look no further than the ongoing power struggle in the runup to this autumn's planned leadership changes, or official figures showing that rural protests have been increasing at the same rate as China's gross domestic product.

The sudden downfall of Bo Xilai — and the call from Yunnan Province for the removal of the two Politburo members closest to him — is just one example of the no-holds-barred infighting now taking place in Zhongnanhai, the closed leadership compound in Beijing.