Bo Xilai’s son speaks out after British businessman’s death
The son of a toppled Chinese politician linked to an investigation into the murder of a British businessman breaks his silence to insist he is “no rich playboy”.
Bo Guagua spoke for the first time since the scandal broke several weeks ago, in which his father, Bo Xilai, has been stripped of three senior political posts and his mother, Gu Kailai, has been named as the prime suspect in the murder of Neil Heywood.
Much speculation over the motive has surfaced since Chinese police launched a murder investigation into the death of the 41-year-old.
Some theories have suggested that Mr Heywood was killed amid a clash over business interests. But others have suggested that he may have been involved in helping the wealthy Bo family’s resources abroad.
Mr Heywood has been reported to have helped arranged Bo Guagua’s education at Harrow, with numerous reports of the young man’s fast-living, sports-car driving lifestyle fuelling speculation of corruption at the heart of China’s political elite.
Mr Bo, 24, did not comment directly on the investigations into his parents, saying only that he was “deeply concerned”.
In a statement published by the Harvard Crimson, he said: “My tuition and living expenses at Harrow School, University of Oxford, and Harvard University, were funded exclusively by two sources – scholarships earned independently and my mother’s generosity from the savings she earned from her years as a successful lawyer and writer.”
He added: “I have never driven a Ferrari. I have also not been to the US embassy in Beijing since 1998…nor have I ever been to the US ambassador’s residence in China.”
The Bo and Gu families have been heavily involved in business. They are reported to be worth an estimated fortune of at least $136m.
Mr Bo was rusticated from Oxford for a year due to his poor academic record.
But he defended his academic record, saying that his involvement with the Oxford Union “enabled me to broaden my perspective, serve the student community, and experience all that Oxford has to offer”.