Talk of imposters in Gu Kailai and Zhou Kehua cases shows lack of trust

Fresh evidence of pervasive mistrust of the government is the last thing Communist Party leaders want to see as they try to paper over scandals for fear they will interfere with a looming power transition.

But they are having a hard time stamping out rumours that an imposter, not the wife of a toppled party "princeling", appeared in court for her trial and sentencing in a sensational murder case, and that a man shot dead by police in Chongqing last week was not the armed robber wanted for multiple homicides they claimed.

Analysts said the online rumours suggested that mistrust of the government and state media was increasing.

"The government covers up too often and the state media has lied too much in the past," said Dai Qing , a veteran journalist and commentator. "It is a kind of credibility crisis and it will tell the government that their traditional Maoist philosophy of rule will no longer work in an increasingly freewheeling society in the internet age."

Gu Kailai , the wife of former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai , was given a suspended death sentence on Monday for murdering British businessman Neil Heywood.

Ahead of the sentencing, overseas media entertained a theory that the woman shown in video footage of the trial earlier this month was not Gu but a lookalike. Some quoted security experts familiar with facial recognition software as saying the person shown in state television footage shot in the courtroom was not Gu.