Surely he can't ever make a return to public office. Certainly Bo hasn't been publicly destroyed to the same extent that a politician in the west would be in similar circumstances because the party had protect itself and if you burn one rotten apple you might have to burn them all. The problem he faces now is he is too famous/infamous for his own good. Prior to the murder he was already making his name as a populist. This is a break from the way politicians have been viewed for the last few decades in China with some western news agencies suggesting he was the closest thing that the Chinese had to a western politician. However, it's going to be very difficult for him to ever remove the stink of such allegations and he is of course still awaiting trail on several charges himself. I'm sure that as with his wife he won't get be punished to the full extent of the law but it would be another big dent to his image and will leave a come back unlikely. I guess only time will tell for certain.

As for our 'modern way' to interfere in the sovereignty of states, I can tell you we have been doing so for longer than most of you 'new world' nation states have existed. You might get some pleasure from reading Kippling's 'Kim', a book that details Britain's participation in 'The Great Game' in areas such as Western China/Tibet, as well as the sub-continent and middle east.