Bo Xilai's trial shows greed, machinations of China’s elite

Greed, machinations and betrayal in one of China’s elite families were on display Friday when prosecutors in the corruption trial of disgraced politician Bo Xilai released testimony from his wife on a businessman’s gifts to the family that included a French villa and plane tickets to three continents.

Bo retorted that his wife, Gu Kailai, was “crazy” and a convicted killer, disputing the prosecution’s contention that the gifts amounted to bribes — or that he even knew about them — and denying he had provided any political favors in exchange for them.

“Bogu Kailai has changed, she’s crazy and she’s always making things up,” Bo told the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court on the second day of the unexpectedly drawn-out trial, using the name with which authorities have referred to her.

“Under conditions where her mental state is abnormal, the investigators put her under immense pressure to expose me,” Bo said.

The lurid details have a serious political side, with the ruling Communist Party using the trial against Bo, a former Politburo member and party leader of the megacity of Chongqing, to cap a messy political scandal unleashed by suspicions that his wife killed a British businessman.

That scandal led to Bo’s political ouster, cemented by criminal charges of interfering with the murder investigation and netting US $4.3 million through corruption. The trial is widely believed to have a predetermined outcome — conviction — but Bo has mounted an unexpectedly spirited defense.