The US Department of State broke its silence yesterday on the whereabouts of the son of disgraced Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai, denying that the Harvard student had been taken away by American law enforcement officers.
Department spokesman Mark Toner made the remarks after speculation that Bo Guagua might seek asylum following the downfall of his father, who has been accused of violating party discipline, and his mother, Gu Kailai, under investigation following the murder of British citizen Neil Heywood.
'As far as we know, there's nothing to those reports,' Toner told a daily press briefing. 'He remains at school at Harvard.'
Bo Xilai's downfall, after former aide Wang Lijun went to the US consulate in Chengdu on February 6 to apply for political asylum, has triggered extraordinary international attention.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Wang was in an agitated state that day, and took with him documents detailing accusations against Bo Xilai and Gu, but did not leave the documents behind.
Wang was not granted asylum after a frantic debate that reached the White House, but the State Department shielded him from arrest by police officers loyal to Bo and ensured he could make his accusations in Beijing, the report said. Toner did not shed much light on what happened inside the Chengdu consulate, saying he could not comment on the credibility of the media reports, but added that Wang was in the consulate on February 6 and 7 before leaving of his own volition.